The Bitter End
by escargoat
Summary: End of Season 8 AU. What if Phoebe had survived the final battle instead of Piper? Chapter 13 up. Cole finds out about Phoebe's returned empathy.
1. Chapter 1

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (1/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Summary: Basically a what if scenario. What if Phoebe had been the one to survive the "Ultimate Battle" and not Piper?

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CN, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Let's see. There is violence in the following chapter.

Also, I'm not a Coop fan, sorry. I felt the relationship was forced so if you're looking for Phoebe/Coop shipping, leave now. I'm in firm Phoebe/Cole land. Always will be. This fic will include that in the future. Coop lovers will probably not like the story line.

Billie fans should really not read this as this will take place before her "redemption" in the final episode.

One more thing, I don't have a "Charmed fanfic" beta, so if you see any inaccuracies, they're all mine. Although, the show itself contradicts itself, so you should be used to that by now.

This started immediately after the "Ultimate Battle"

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Phoebe dazedly pushed herself to her feet. "Piper? Paige?" she croaked as she forced herself to look around the newly devastated manner. Her heart skipped a couple beats when she did not hear a response from either sister.

"PAIGE? PIPER?" She called more loudly. Still, there was no answer.

Panic began to set in as she desperately began to dig through the rubble.

A single hand with a wedding ring was exposed as she moved a picture of Grams that had fallen from one of the walls.

Phoebe let out a sigh of relief as she pulled her elder sister out from underneath a section of what used to be the ceiling. Her relief was short lived as she realized that Piper was not breathing.

"Paige!" Phoebe called out before she began to attempt CPR on Piper. Tears began to track their way down Phoebe's face.

"Paige," Phoebe brokenly whispered hoping that her younger sister would somehow appear, heal Piper and all would be well again.

"She can't help you child. They are both beyond your reach now," the Angel of Destiny said as she appeared in a swirl of lights.

"No, I don't believe that," Phoebe replied as she shook her head in denial.

"They are gone child. You must accept that. You have fought your battle. I must admit, I had hoped for a better outcome than this."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have taken Leo away then!" Phoebe snapped. "Did you really think that distracting Piper by taking away the love of her life would help anything? Where is he anyway? We've fought your 'Ultimate Battle.' I'm still standing. I think that means we won. Where is he?"

"I made that promise to your sister. Her husband is with her."

"WHAT? You can't… Their children need him."

"I am sorry. For all of this."

Before Phoebe could reply, the Angel disappeared in a swirl of lights.

Blankly, she stared at the remains of her childhood home. There was a shift in the rubble. Warily, Phoebe approached it hoping that somehow at least one of her sisters had been granted a reprieve from death. After all, Paige was already half whitelighter, wasn't she?

Hatred flooded through Phoebe when she saw a blonde head emerge. Not since she had sworn to be the Queen of the Underworld had she felt such malice pound through her veins.

Grabbing what was left of a leg from the dining room table, she swung it viciously at Billie's head.

The other girl shrieked in response and managed to roll away from the attack. Phoebe swung again. This time she managed to hit Billie in her mid-section.

Billie struck out with her foot and managed to almost knock Phoebe off balance. Quickly, the blonde witch scrambled to her feet. Angrily, Phoebe threw her weapon at the young betrayer. Billie dodged, but still took a glancing blow to her shoulder.

She glared at Phoebe. "You killed my sister."

Phoebe merely snorted in response before launching herself at Billie. The two traded savage blows, but Billie's youth had nothing Phoebe's superior skills.

The sound of sirens caused Phoebe to break her concentration. Taking advantage in the lapse, Billie used her powers to throw Phoebe into the air and into one of the remaining walls. She then ran as quickly as she could out of the house.

Phoebe tried to stand and chase after Billie. As she stepped forward, pain shot through her right ankle, and she fell over. Numbly, she realized that she must have landed on it after Billie has thrown her.

The thought of Billie energized Phoebe to get up and move. That second rate witch was going to go down – ultimate-mind-changing power or not…

As she stepped on her ankle again, she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain. She made it about three steps before she passed out.

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White lights and white walls were what Phoebe saw when she opened her eyes. She wondered briefly if she had died after all. Then she heard her father's voice.

"Phoebe?" Victor's voice cracked as he said her name.

"Dad?" she responded as she turned her head to look at him.

He tried to smile at her, but the grief on his face barely yielded to the forced expression.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked as she belatedly realized that she was in a hospital room, and not in heaven.

"The police found you in the mansion. They brought you here. Phoebe… Paige and Piper," Victor stopped to try to take a breath.

"I know Dad," Phoebe interrupted softly. There was no use in forcing him to say what she already knew, and quite honestly, she did not think she could bear hearing him tell her that her sisters were dead. Tears came to her eyes. All her sisters were dead, all three of them. If it wasn't so sad, it would be ironic. The one sister who was always ranked as the lowest threat by the demon world was the one who was still alive.

Victor, unaware of his daughter's mental travels, started to speak again, "Henry and I, we told them that it was related to the crime you 'witnessed' last year. We said that there was a lingering threat that wasn't recognized. The press is saying that they rigged your gas line to explode… It was the best that we could come up with."

"How did you explain Christy?"

"Just that you and your sisters must have caught them in the act, and she didn't get away. Henry had them put out a warrant for Billie's arrest."

"He did what? Dad, if she uses magic…"

"I know, I know, but we can't do anything about that now. He's a hurt man Phoebe, and I'm not really all that sorry that he did it. She killed my daughter, and she damn near killed the only child I've got left. Besides, if the big shots up there don't have a way of dealing with her, I'm sure the ones below do. And I don't really care if they do something painful to her."

Phoebe had to admit that she really did not care if Billie met a painful end with the cleaners. Still, if Billie involved magic to deal with the police, they could track it straight back to Phoebe and, more importantly, to Wyatt and Chris.

"Where are the boys?" she asked as the thought occurred to her.

"Henry has them right now. He said he needed to focus on something else other than Paige. I can't say that I blame him."

"I have to do something. I can't just let this happen," Phoebe said as she tried to get out of bed.

"Phoebe! You're injured and not capable of going five feet at the moment. Let alone whatever type of magic you think you're going to do. You need to rest."

"What I need to do is figure out a way to reverse all this," Phoebe argued even as she lay back down on the hospital bed.

"What if you can't?" Victor gave voice to the thought that was nagging her.

"I will. I have to," she responded as she rolled over on her side and pretended to go back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (2/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CN, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: A bit of Paige/Henry shippyness in this chapter. I promise to eventually get to the promised Phoebe/Cole, but it'll take a while.

On the subject of Coop, my premise in the fic is the conversation that Victor had with him about losing love. If Coop hadn't lost Phoebe, would he have been motivated to give Piper his ring and break the history rules?

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Henry forced himself to get up off the couch when his doorbell rang. Unsurprisingly, Victor was on the other side.

"Hey," Henry said as he stepped aside to let Victor in.

"Hey," Victor replied.

"How's Phoebe doing?"

"She's okay. The doctors want to hold her overnight for observation."

Henry shifted uncomfortably. "I meant, how's she holding up?"

Victor shrugged. "She's determined to use magic to fix this. You tell me if that's good or bad."

Henry chose not to reply to that. There was no point in being hopeful, and he was not a magical being that could assist Phoebe even if there was hope.

Victor nodded almost as if reading Henry's thoughts.

"Anyway, I'll take the boys off your hands now. Thanks for taking care of them."

"Yeah, no problem, it kept me from… you know," Henry replied as he helped Victor pack the boys' things in a tote.

"Yeah, I do."

"Does it get better?" Henry blurted out.

"It hurts less often. You think about it less often, but it never gets better. They told my daughters that they had this grand destiny," Victor paused and shook his head, "You would think that good guys would try to keep my girls alive, not just send them to their slaughter."

Henry swallowed as he finished packing up the stray items. He thought that Paige dieing for the greater good should give him more comfort, but he had to agree with Victor. Why exactly did the "good guys" leave his bride to just die?

A sleepy Chris's cry interrupted Henry's reverie as Victor picked up the previously sleeping child.

"Come on Wyatt," Victor called to his other grandson as the boy tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Henry handed Victor the tote before the grandfather grabbed Wyatt's hand.

"Thanks again," Victor said as he took the boys out the door.

The room felt oppressive to Henry as the door clicked shut. What was he supposed to do now?

"I thought he'd never leave," the familiar voice shocked Henry.

"Paige?" he whispered.

"In the flesh, well sort of," she replied as she materialized in a flurry of white.

"How?"

"It isn't what you think. I was given a choice. Die as a witch and keep the whole witch power when summoned thing, or I could become a full time whitelighter minus the witch powers," she shrugged trying to keep the sadness at bay.

"You're a whiteligher then?" Henry asked. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Yeah, but don't get your hopes up. I'm not going to be allowed to see you, at least, not until you've moved on. It's some sort of cosmic rule. I'm not allowed to see my living family until they've moved on. I can't even talk to Phoebe, but I'm allowed to say goodbye to my husband."

"I don't understand."

Paige frowned and not for the first time wished that she had been given the chance to explain magic to her husband more thoroughly.

"When Leo died, he was allowed to sort of say goodbye to his wife."

"Leo said goodbye to Piper? I thought he was in a cosmic deepfreeze."

"No, not Piper. Leo's other wife. The one before he died. The first time he died anyway."

"Oh."

"Anyway, seems how there was a precedence set. They're letting me say goodbye to you before I get sent off to take care of my charges."

Henry tried to force a smile to keep from crying. "This isn't fair."

"I know it isn't," she replied as her own tears started to fall.

She moved silently to him and gave him a short kiss. "Goodbye," she whispered as she backed away.

"I love you," he said as she started to dematerialize.

"I know, I love you too."

And with that, she was gone and Henry was alone again.

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Phoebe was jolted awake as she heard someone in the room with her. Visiting hours were over, and she did not remember hearing the door to her room open. Grabbing the vase of flowers that her father had brought, she prepared to throw them at her visitor.

"Whoa, Phoebe. It's okay. It's just me," Coop said as her approached her bedside.

"Coop," Phoebe said with genuine relief.

"Here, let me help you with those," he offered even as he took the vase from her hands and put them down. "How are you?"

"Not so good. I'll be better when I can get to the Book of Shadows and fix all this."

"Phoebe, you might not be able to fix this."

"Don't say that."

"You can't turn back time."

"No, you're right. I can't. But there has got to be something. This wasn't supposed to end like this."

"How do you know that?" Coop asked softly as he sat down in a chair next to her.

"Because… I don't know. It just doesn't feel right."

"I don't think that losing your family is ever supposed to feel right."

"Coop, you don't understand. They were supposed to live. I've seen the future, Chris came back from the future…"

"And the future is always changing. You know that Phoebe. Even I know that, and I'm not even a witch."

"No, but you are a Cupid," Phoebe commented as she bit down on her bottom lip, struck with a thought.

"What is it? He asked gently.

"Coop, when you took me on that journey, we were moving through time right?"

"Phoebe, no I can't," he said as he covered his ring with his other hand.

"Coop, it might be the only way to get my sisters back."

"You can't just go changing history every time that something bad happens. Things happen for a reason Phoebe. If Prue had never died then you would probably never have met Paige."

"Yeah and Paige wouldn't be dead right now."

"You don't know that. But she wouldn't have had sisters. She might never have met Henry. Is that what she would've wanted?"

"Coop…"

"No, you aren't thinking clearly right now. You need to rest. I'll see you again soon," he said as he stood up from his chair.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know," Phoebe replied without looking at him.

With a heavy heart, Coop faded from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (3/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Ugh, Billie gets a scene in this chapter, and I find that I detest writing her almost as much as I hated watching her. In any case, I tried to stay true to her character.

Phoebe/Cole is coming. I promise. No, really, I mean it.

There will be an eventually happy ending to all of this. It's just going to take a while.

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Phoebe took a shaky breath as she stared into her mirror. A bleak face stared back at her. At least, she mused, she was well accessorized. The dark circles and bruises matched her black dress perfectly.

Her eyes inadvertently drifted to the Book of Shadows sitting on her bed nearby. She had tried everything she could think of, and none of it had worked. The minute she had gotten home form the hospital, she had grabbed the book from its hiding place and started toiling away on getting her sisters back.

Just like Piper so many years before, she had come up empty handed. Although, that wasn't entirely true, Piper had summoned Paige. There was no lost sister for Phoebe to find this time. There was only a funeral to attend.

"Are you ready to go?"

Phoebe turned to face her father. "No, but I don't really have a choice do I?"

Victor shook his head sadly.

"Right," she said in response. Gingerly, she grabbed her crutches and eased up on to them. A rueful smile ghosted across her lips. If Paige was around, she would not have to be using crutches at all. Of course, if Paige was around, she would not be going to her funeral today.

"Do you need help?" Victor asked.

"No, just go get the boys. We need to get this over with."

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Automatically forcing herself to thank the mourners for attending, Phoebe steadfastly refused to focus on anything at the reception. A small part of her brain noted that Paige would be happier with the turnout this time. All of Henry's friends had come, and some of her old coworkers. Glenn, of course had come as well. He was perhaps the hardest mourner for Phoebe to greet.

She had been the one to dash the look of hope in his eyes at the funeral. The look had begged her to say that the entire nightmare would just be like the visitation of last year. Only there was a body this time, and there was no mistaking that.

Henry came to stand beside her.

"I thought some of Paige's charges might come," she commented to him.

"I'm not surprised that they didn't. After all, even if they knew where she lived, she's still there for them."

"What?"

"Paige, she came to say goodbye. I guess she's a fulltime whitelighter now. Didn't your father tell you?

"No, no he didn't. And I'd get angry with him right now, but I don't want to turn into something evil and kill the only family I've got left."

Henry shrugged. "I suppose it really doesn't matter. She said that she wouldn't be coming back until we'd moved on anyway."

"Ah yes, the great cosmic rules," Phoebe did not even bother to hide the bitterness in her voice.

They lapsed into a sorrowful silence. As the minutes of silent mourning continued, Phoebe decided that this funeral was worse than Prue's, and it was not just because she was burying two sisters. It was because there was nothing left.

Piper and Leo had been at Prue's funeral. She still had an older sister and a loving brother-in-law. And, she had Cole. Demon that he was, he had tried to help her with her loss. He had noticed that she was acting out of character. He had stayed when she asked him to stay.

Coop had been wandering around the fringes of the room and played with his damn ring every time she set eyes on him. What exactly did he think she was going to do? Hobble over to him and wrestle it off his finger?

"Phoebe, hi," an unexpected voice rang in her ear.

"Darryl," she gasped in surprise.

"I'm sorry I didn't make the funeral. Our flight got in late."

"It's okay. Thank you for coming," she replied earnestly as she gave him a hug.

"I can't believe that they're gone. You know? I had actually started to believe you guys could beat anything."

Phoebe felt tears sting at her eyes. "Darryl, have you met Henry?" She asked in lieu of breaking down.

"No," he replied as he turned to face his fellow officer, "I'm sorry for your loss. Paige, she was a good soul," Darryl said as he reached for Henry's hand.

"Thanks."

"Miss Halliwell?"

Phoebe turned to see a couple of police officers approaching. "Yes?"

"We're sorry to interrupt, but we think we found your missing assailant."

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Billie pace nervously in the small cell she was being held in. Suddenly, two different figures appear. One was tall with dark hair. He was robed in white. The other was shorter, with dark hair and dark clothes. He seemed familiar somehow.

"Who are you?" she demanded form them.

"I am an Elder. He, he is a demon. We've come to warn you."

"An Elder and a demon working together, why do I not believe you?"

"We aren't working together. If I had my way, I'd just finish you now and be done with it," the demon snarled at her.

"We're here because we cannot risk having magic exposed to the world. After your attack on the Charmed Ones, the good magical community has discovered you and your sister's alliance with the Triad. We cannot condone your actions. Should you choose to expose yourself as a witch in an attempt to free yourself, you will not find the results pleasant."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, you stupid witch, he isn't threatening you. I am," the demon snarled as he approached her.

"You and your sister destroyed one of the greatest forces for good that we had. My sources tell me that you may have been mislead, but that does not excuse your behavior. The Elders are divided on this issue. Should you choose to ignore my counsel, we will not interfere when the cleaners are sent after you."

"So what, you just want me to ignore the fact that the Charmed Ones killed my sister?"

The Elder tilted his head and looked at her. "Your sister led you, however blind you were, down the path of evil. You helped to kill your own whitelighter. We have decided that it would be best for you to stand trial in a mortal court to pay for your crimes."

Billie frowned. "You're just going to let Phoebe get by with killing my sister?"

"Self defense is hardly murder. Now, if you are quite done with the topic. I need you to drink this," the elder replied as he pulled a small bottle out of his robes.

"What is that?" Billie asked skeptically.

"It is a binding potion to make certain that you do not use your powers to influence the jury. If you take it, then we will not have to worry about you exposing yourself. If you do not take it, then you will have to deal with them," he gestured towards the demon, "by yourself."

"I can take care of him," Billie replied imperiously.

"Maybe you can, witch, but you won't be able to stop all of us. Actually, I rather enjoy the idea of killing you," the demon sneered.

"You don't have a right to take my powers from me," Billie challenge the Elder.

"You will not lose them forever. They will be restored as soon as you are done with whatever sentence that the mortal court gives you. If you are acquitted, your power will be returned immediately. You should be grateful; there are those in the council who wished to have you dealt with as we would deal with demons."

"I don't…"

The Elder pushed the bottle into her hand stemming off whatever she had been about to say. "Consider this your opportunity to make things right."

With that, he orbed out.

The demon grinned and sauntered over to her. "I'll be seeing you real soon," he commented before shimmering out.

Billie sat and stared at the bottle.

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Phoebe fidgeted nervously. Identifying Billie in the line-up had been nerve-wracking to say the least. The pain and rage had made her feel sick to her stomach. She had asked to go back to her apartment as soon as the police were done with her. Then she had claimed she was not feeling well and had gone to her bedroom.

It seemed like forever, but eventually, her father had taken the boys out for a walk. It was at that time that Phoebe had started back in on using magic to change what had happened. Still, nothing worked. Her carpet was soaked from all the failed potions. Her voice was raw from the chanting. It made no sense. If Chris could travel through time, then she should have the power to travel as well.

Angrily, she began to pour through the book again.

"Phoebe, for heaven's sake stop already," Gram's voice interrupted her.

"Grams?"

"What, you didn't think I could materialize anywhere but the attic?"

"I guess I never really thought about it," Phoebe admitted.

"Phoebe, you need to stop this."

"Why? Why do I have to stop? Grams, my sisters weren't supposed to die like that."

"Are you so sure? Everything happens for a reason, Phoebe, you believe that."

"Yeah, but Grams, you can't really believe that they were supposed to go like that. And why can't I fix it? If Chris could come from several years in the future, I should be able to go back a few days."

"It isn't working because your intention is not for the greater good. There are reasons that time travel isn't easy. We cannot just keep turning back the clock every time somebody dies. If time travel were that simple, do you think that I would have let Patty die? Do you think that you and Piper wouldn't have been able to save Prue? Even if you could go back in time, there is no guarantee that you would be able to save them. Something else just as bad might happen."

Phoebe frowned. "Saving the Charmed Ones isn't for the greater good, but allowing Coop to take me on a joy ride through my past relationships was?"

"A cupid's magic is different from yours. They have a different destiny. Playing with time is a part of who they are because of what they are. You're a witch."

Phoebe stared stonily at her bedroom wall. "How is Piper?"

"Fine."

"Grams…"

"Mad, angry – she threatened to blow up the Angel of Destiny for not sending Leo back. She yelled at Prue for trying to calm her down. I'd never seen Prue look frightened of Piper before."

"Yeah, well Prue never saw Piper in her mother bear mode before," Phoebe paused a moment as her sentence caused her to think. Finally, she spoke again, "Wyatt and Chris need their mother. Dad and I aren't good substitutes for Piper and Leo."

"And I shouldn't have had to raise my granddaughters."

"You want me to give up on them," Phoebe replied in a sorrowful whisper.

"No. I want you not to give up on yourself or your nephews. Damn it Phoebe Halliwell, you're the only one left. Get some sense into your head you stubborn girl. You can't change what has happened, and right or wrong, those two boys need you."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply. At that moment, Coop transported himself into the room.

"Phoebe, I… Oh, hi. You must be Grams. I'm Coop," he said as he extended his hand towards her.

"Are you now? I hope you realize that Phoebe has much better things to be doing with her time right now then cavorting with cupids," Penny replied briskly.

"There is always time for love," Coop replied confidently.

"Coop, what are you doing here?" Phoebe asked tiredly.

"I, Phoebe, the Elders asked me to stay away from you for a while. They're afraid that you'll want to take my ring to try to save your sisters."

"You're just going to leave?" Phoebe said as she felt another stab of hurt pierce her already mourning heart.

Coop's tormented and sad eyes gazed at her before he replied, "I don't want to… Look, Phoebe, I love you. If we got married…"

"Married? Are you, what are you thinking! My sisters just died, you wouldn't do anything to help me, and now I'm just supposed to run off and marry you because the Elders want you to go away? Well, let me help you. Don't listen to the Elders. Listen to me. Go away. I, I thought you loved me. I thought I loved you. Do you even have a heart at all?" Phoebe ranted at him.

"Phoebe, I do love you. And I know you love me."

"I don't love you that much," Phoebe ground out as her tear filled eyes stared at her floor.

"I think you had best be on your way," Grams interjected.

Coop took one last look at Phoebe before he left.

"Phoebe," Grams began.

"Go away Grams. I don't think I need anymore lectures. I think I just need to be alone."

"Very well, if you need anything, just call."

After Grams disappeared, Phoebe angrily slammed the cover of the Book of Shadows shut. She did not want to start all over, but it seemed like she was going to have to anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (4/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: I had not intended to use Henry quite so much in this fic when I conceptualized it, but what can I say?

I also decided to start to move the story ahead a bit. I didn't really feel like giving Billie more "screen" time for the whole trial bit.

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Henry stared intently at Phoebe. "I mean it. You need to take them."

Phoebe shook her head.

"Phoebe…" Henry trailed off angrily.

"Paige gave them to you. Her will stated what she wanted to go to me."

"I'm not a witch."

"No, but that doesn't mean that you aren't going to be a target from demons. I can make my own potions Henry. You can't."

Victor laughed at the two of the unexpectedly.

"What?" Phoebe inquired.

"I can't forget the look on that guy's face when he read that Paige wanted all her potions to go to her husband."

Phoebe smiled slightly. Whether it was because of the memory or the fact that her father had laughed, she did not know.

"I going to have to buy a house," she fretted suddenly.

"You shouldn't rush into something like that Phoebe," her father cautioned.

"I know, but I can't keep the boys with me in my apartment. I'm not going to have the room."

"They can stay here with me for as long as they need, or you can get a bigger apartment," Victor reasoned.

"Yeah, but you told me that Chris is developing his powers. It's a lot easier to hide magical abilities when the kids are orbing between floors of your house then it is when they orb into Mrs. Johnson's on the floor below you."

"Wyatt hasn't done anything magical since, well…"

"I know, but the boys are still going to be great big magical targets. You know? I can't ignore that the odds are very good that some evil may come attack them. And it's easier to fix the demon vanquish spot on the rug in your home instead of explaining to the landlord what exactly that burn spot is. That's why Piper wanted to boy to go to me. I'm the one best equipped to protect them now that Paige is gone."

"Is that why she stated that she wanted the boys to live with Paige before you or me?" Victor questioned.

"Dad, don't feel upset. We agreed that if Piper and Leo were both gone, Paige would be better able to protect the boys. She had an active power, and she loves them as much I do. Loved, I mean."

"Loves," Henry commented.

"You could always build another house on the land you already own," Victor pointed out after realizing that Phoebe had her mind set.

"I'm pretty sure every demon in the Underworld has that address. I want the boys to be safe both from demons and reporters."

Victor unconsciously looked over at the blinking light on his answering machine.

"Dad, we can't let anything happen to those boys. I, I can't lose another member of my family. I don't have much left."

"I know it's a drastic step that I shouldn't be taking. I mean, I gave Piper the lecture about this kind of thing after Prue died, but I have to do what is best for Wyatt and Chris."

Henry cleared his throat. "I know that I wasn't family very long before Paige," Henry stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "before Paige died. But, I want to help in any way possible. I think Paige would want that."

"Thank you," was all Phoebe had to reply.

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"He asked you to what?!" Victor's voice boomed through Phoebe's recently purchased house.

Phoebe sighed and wished that her father had waited a little while longer before bringing Coop's name up. She had hoped for a rather peaceful day of unpacking boxes. It had taken a few months to find the right house and get the financing in place. Now Victor was helping his remaining daughter and two grandsons move in.

"Coop asked me to marry him. I told him to go away. I loved him, but marriage that quickly?"

"Well, I'm glad you said 'no.' You deserve better."

Phoebe snorted in an unflattering way. "You're my father. You have to say things like that."

"It's true. I didn't like the guy. I didn't like him one bit."

"Didn't like who?" Henry asked as he maneuvered one of the heavier boxes in the door.

"Coop," Phoebe informed him.

"Oh."

"Ugly bitch," Victor's voice ground out.

"Excuse me?" Phoebe asked in a shocked voice.

Victor looked surprised. "I didn't realize I said that out loud."

Roughly, he shoved a piece of newspaper at Phoebe. Billie's picture started up at her.

"It was wrapped around one of the vases in this box."

Phoebe crumpled the paper back up. "I can't believe I didn't notice when I was packing."

"Well, it isn't like you needed to read the papers to know what's going on," Henry pointed out.

Phoebe moaned slightly, "Don't remind me. I'm trying to think positive thoughts. Testifying about My sister's deaths wasn't something I'd ever put on my to-do list."

"I still think that something magical was behind that trial. It moved too fast," Victor commented.

"Well, you'll get no argument from me there. I'm just glad that they found her guilty, and that she didn't use her powers to sway the jury."

"How do you know she didn't use her powers? She helped kill two people, and she only gets twenty years, _with_ the possibility of parole," Victor pointed out.

"I don't, okay. But maybe she was just convincing that her sister mislead her. I don't know."

"Maybe we should just find a new topic. We've all been through this several times," Henry pointed out.

"Well on the plus side, I start work again next week. It'll be nice to start getting my paycheck again. Although, with a room full of reporters nearby, I'm probably going to have to put a barricade up," Phoebe half joked.

"Well, circulation will probably go up for the first week of you being back. That will probably make your boss happy," Victor commented.

"Yeah, well I'm just hoping that it stays that way. I mean, I'm not sure all that publicity is going to help me in the long run."

"You'll be fine," her father assured her.

Phoebe nodded her thanks and bent to pick up another box. "I don't remember this one," she commented with a puzzled frown.

"Oh, you might not. It was in the storage facility that Piper was renting. I just took everything out of there when I was on my way over. Piper mentioned that she put some old household supplies in there. I thought they might be useful here so you didn't have to buy new. Besides, I thought it would be a way to bring your sisters with you."

Phoebe smiled softly. "Thanks Dad."

Eagerly she opened the box. She froze. There was a teddy bear at the top of the box, and it wasn't Wyatt's.

"Something wrong?" Henry asked.

"No, nothing," she replied after a few seconds.

The day was going so well that she did not want to bring the mood down. She could just rifle through the box and then inconspicuously hide it again. Gently, she fingered the bow that was tied around the bear's neck. The bow was blue. Blue like the eyes of the man who had bought it for their unborn child…

Phoebe yanked the bear out and threw into the hall closet. Today, this week, hell this year was not the year to be thinking of crazy demon exes. If she wanted pain, she could focus on her sister's deaths. Hastily, she rummaged through the remaining contents of the box. Oddly enough, there were some magical supplies at the bottom. Grudgingly, she pulled them out. She had not been able to save much from the exploded contents of the manor, and they might help should she need them.

"Magic stuff?" Victor questioned as he looked over Phoebe's shoulder.

"Yeah. I can probably use it seems how I haven't had time to replenish my stockpiles."

"Why stockpile at all? Demons haven't even attacked since before Paige died," Henry commented.

Phoebe looked at Henry and then at her father. "Tell me he did not just say that."

Victor sighed and shook his head.

"What?" Henry asked.

"I'll go get the boys," was all Victor said as he went into the next room where they were playing.

"What?" Henry asked again.

The sound of breaking glass answered him.

"Phoebe!" Victor shouted.

Grabbing her purse, Phoebe ran into what would soon be her living room.

"Give me the boy," the demon ground out as he lunged at Victor.

When he stumbled out of the path of the demon, the attacked kept going right towards the boys. Wyatt lifted his hands up. Nothing happened.

"No!" Phoebe screamed as she reached into her purse and threw a potion. Thankfully, the demon ignited in flames and was vanquished.

Victor stared at his eldest grandson. "He didn't bubble? Why didn't he bubble?"

Phoebe stared in horror at her nephews. "I don't know."

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A few hours later, the boys were in bed. Henry, Phoebe and Victor sat around her new kitchen table.

"I can't believe Wyatt's powers are gone. I mean, he used to be able to conjure dragons," Phoebe moaned as she stared into her coffee cup.

"Maybe it isn't all bad. I mean he's mortal now right? Being mortal isn't bad," Henry pointed out.

"It isn't bad when you don't have demons running after you trying to kill you," Phoebe corrected.

"Maybe he's just scared of using them," Victor suggested.

"No, Dad, what you said about having to have Chris orb Wyatt back? I think that Wyatt had his powers stripped. Maybe they were even eaten by us summoning the Hollow somehow. I don't know. I just know that without his shield both Wyatt and Chris are in a lot more danger."


	5. Chapter 5

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (5/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Hmm, Elder bashing via ranting Victor in this chapter. I have a rather low opinion of the Elders, and it shows.

Oh, and there is some bad language in this chapter. Then again, this is rated "M," and the language isn't worse than what you'd find on the show so…

A special note to all those who have reviewed: I greatly appreciate it.

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Phoebe moaned as she applied an icepack to the back of her neck.

"Thanks for the assist Dad," she commented.

"Hey, they were after my boys," he replied as he placed his own icepack to his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm sure throwing toilet paper at them really scared them," Henry commented dryly.

"It distracted them. Besides, emptying a clip full of bullets into that one guy didn't faze him, now did it?" Victor snipped back.

"Yeah, well we got rid of them at least," Phoebe reminded them.

"You know what I can't believe? I can't believe that they sent the boys a new whitelighter that couldn't heal. I really don't believe it," Victor groused.

"Well, you heard him. We're just plain old witches to them now - Charmed heritage or not. I guess we don't rank the healing type of whitelighter now."

"It's a load of hogwash is what it is. You can't tell me that your regular witches are getting attacked this often. Your sisters are the ones who took the demon population down so far in the first place, and they can't even show respect for the sacrifices you've made?" Victor bitterly pointed out.

"Hogwash?" Henry asked.

Phoebe smiled slightly at his attempt to lighten the mood. Then she turned to her father, "I can't say that I disagree with you. The last three attacks have been close, and without Wyatt's shield… I mean I don't even have my levitation back, and even that wasn't that active of a power. I, we need more help to protect the next generation. I'm not sure how long we can keep doing this."

"The council agrees with you entirely," a new voice sounded as an Elder orbed into the room.

"Well, It's about time," Henry commented.

The Elder paused and looked surprised to see Henry sitting near Phoebe and Victor.

"I'm surprised to see you here. Henry is it? These children are not your concern."

"These people are my family now. I'm not the type of guy to turn tail and run." Henry replied in an affronted tone.

"Be that as it may, you are not very effective against magical threats. None of you are."

"Which is why you're here to offer assistance," Victor pointed out.

"Yes. As you know, two of you are mortal and one of you has an unreliable and passive power. While young Wyatt seems to have regrettably lost his powers, young Chris will no doubt grow to be very powerful. The Council believes that he should be given over to our custody. You cannot protect him. We would, of course, take Wyatt with us. He will no doubt continue to be a target of evil, and we cannot risk Chris becoming resentful that we did not protect his older brother."

"WHAT?" Phoebe shrieked at the same time her father uttered a more forceful, "The HELL you will!"

Before Phoebe could recover her ability for speech, her father launched himself out of his chair and stood nose to nose with the Elder.

"Now, in case you didn't get the message the last time. Those boys aren't going anywhere."

"We had hoped you would change your mind. The last time we made this offer to you, the Charmed Ones were not truly dead. You knew this. This time two of the Charmed Ones are dead. Phoebe, while powerful, does not have the sort of power to fend off the remaining evil that wished to steal her nephews. They are the largest targets the Underworld has right now. Surely you must see that."

"What I see is a pompous man in a white robe trying to tell me that my grandsons would be better off up in the clouds somewhere away from their family. Maybe you should've given their mother some help instead of leaving her and her sister to die. Maybe you should've given my daughter her powers back."

"Phoebe is being punished for the misuse of her powers. We cannot simply ignore that," the Elder replied calmly.

"Oh, I see, and what was Billie's punishment for abusing her powers to destroy your precious Charmed Ones?" Victor snarled.

"Billie Jenkins is not your concern. Your grandson's welfare is."

"You're damned right it is. And you know what my concern says? It says stay the hell away from my family. You and your sanctimonious preaching never did squat for my girls except get them killed. You sent them to their slaughter and then berated them when they didn't quite do everything perfectly. Well, you and your cause got Prue killed before she even had a chance. You and your council tore Piper's husband away from her so many times that it makes me sick. Then you send some love-struck cupid after Phoebe instead of giving her and her sisters some help. Is this supposed to make me trust you?"

"I understand you are upset Victor…"

"No, I'm not upset I'm done. Done with it all. You stay away from them. ALL of them. I don't want anything to do with you."

The Elder looked past Victor to Phoebe, "You know that you do not have the power to protect them, and you know that we will rear the boys to further the greater good. Make your father see reason."

"Reason?" Phoebe croaked, "You can't be serious. Screw you and your greater good. All it ever did was get my mother and my sisters killed. Well you aren't going to get the rest of us. I don't want to even see any of you again if this is what you want."

"It would behoove you to reconsider your stance. While the Council does not control matters of destiny, we do control who you may summon. Cutting ties with us will ensure that you will not see your sisters again until you yourself will join the great hereafter."

"Given how fast you let us see Prue; that really doesn't concern me. I think that Piper would rather I let her boys have a normal life."

"They will not have any life at all with you protecting them. We all know that you were the weakest of the three. Even the demon world knows this," the elder pointed out angrily.

"I didn't know you cared about us dieing," Phoebe replied archly.

"We have great love for your family. There are none so gifted…"

"I think the lady and her father told you to leave," Henry finally snapped.

"This does not concern you," the Elder sniffed at him.

"You call them gifted, blessed, destined, but you never call them people. Well let me clue you in on something. My wife was the most special person I've ever known. I would do anything to get her back because of the person she was, not the good she could do. Now, I think that Wyatt and Chris have two perfectly capable guardians who told you and your Council to take a hike. So take it."

A scowl crossed the Elder's face. "So be it. When you come to regret your decision, we will answer your summon."

A flurry of white lights signaled his departure.

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A few hours later, Phoebe stared at a frothing blue liquid, "You know in all these years, I never thought I'd be putting up wards to keep the good guys out."

"That guy didn't seem so good to me. He kind of reminded me of a politician," Henry commented as he pulled items out of a trunk and set them on Phoebe's kitchen table.

"You know you don't have to help me if you don't want. You can go home like Dad did."

"Victor needed to go before he upset the boys. Besides, I can't handle going home and not having Paige there, not well anyway."

"I know," Phoebe replied as she turned the burner off on the stove. "I wish Piper was here. She was always the best with the cooking part. Paige was getting close at the end there, but Piper would always be the best in the kitchen."

"Paige said you were pretty good with the spells though," Henry offered as a vote of confidence.

"I used to be. Piper used to say that Prue and I were the 'Super Witches.' I loved it when we first started you know? Then, I don't know, I changed. I started running. I started wanting to be normal."

"Nothing wrong with wanting a normal life, your sisters wanted one."

"Yeah, but I always hated having a normal life. I didn't want to be just anybody. It was just that after we vanquished Cole… I changed. It wasn't just shutting off my heart, you know? I got scared of everything magical and started running. Now that I don't have a big sister anymore, I guess I finally realized what I was doing."

Henry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Cole?"

"My ex-husband. Paige's _favorite_ of all my boyfriends. I'm surprised she never told you about him. She cut her magical teeth on vanquishing him."

"He was evil?"

"Was evil, was good, was evil again… It's a long story."

"Ah," Henry replied as he began to root around in the chest again. He stopped after a moment and pulled out a small glowing sphere. "What is this?"

Phoebe frowned. "I don't know. It must have been in that box from the penthouse," she replied as she reached for it.

"The penthouse?"

"It was where Cole and I lived. I had some boxes from there that I never cleaned up. I found one with some supplies in it when I moved in here. I just sort of tossed the contents in there. Mind giving it to me?" she asked politely as Henry was still holding it.

"Oh, sure," he replied as he handed it to her.

Phoebe gasped as she felt her power kick in. Desperately she fought it. Whatever the ball was, it has come from the penthouse. Given that she did not remember it that meant that it was either the Source's or Cole's. She was not sure which was worse.

Still, the premonition came. It was immediately obvious that she was seeing the past. She was in the manor. Piper was on the couch. Piper was also standing, and she was standing next to Cole.


	6. Chapter 6

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (6/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: A little bit bigger chapter this time. Also, I've always been of the opinion that as far as the 'possession' rules on the show were concerned, Cole really shouldn't have been held responsible for becoming the Source. He was possessed…

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Phoebe stomped furiously through the house, "I can't BELIEVE Piper didn't tell me! When I die, I am going to give her a piece of my mind."

Henry stared at her.

"What?" Phoebe snapped.

"Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay? My big sister lied to me! Okay, she didn't lie to me, but she didn't tell me either."

Henry could feel his face crinkle into a confused expression. He'd had troubles interpreting Paige's ramblings on occasion. Now he realized that it had been a family trait and Phoebe had gotten said trait in spades.

"An 'old friend' she said. When did Piper ever consider him a friend, hmmm?"

"Huh?"

Phoebe sighed exasperatedly. "Cole."

"Oh," Henry replied still as confused as he had been at the beginning of the conversation.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. Not anymore, I guess," she said in a defeated tone as she sat down.

"Okay," Henry replied hesitantly.

"No, it isn't okay, how could you even say that?"

Henry took a deep breath, "Phoebe, you are my sister-in-law. Because Paige loved you I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. You're acting like a crazy person right now."

"I'm sorry, it's just, seeing Cole like that helping Piper – it brought back some old memories."

"Bad memories?"

Phoebe shook her head, "No, good ones."

"You said he was helping Piper? Did she have unfinished business or something? Paige mentioned that ghosts hang around sometimes for that."

"What? Oh, no, what I saw happened before Paige ever met you. You see, sometimes I see past events when I have a premonition. It doesn't happen often, but it still happens."

"Can you call it a premonition when you're seeing a past event?"

Phoebe bit her lip thoughtfully. "Usually when I see something from the past, it is because I need the information for something that is going to occur in the near future. So it is still sort of a premonition. But, I don't know what I can say about this. I don't know what possible good is supposed to come out of it."

"I don't know what to tell you. I kind of reached the limit of my magic knowledge with the ghost theory."

Phoebe smiled, "That's okay. I think that I'm not going to figure this one out right away. I should probably get back to working on the whole 'Elder Away' spell."

"Why exactly are you making it anyway?"

"To keep the Elders from snooping, they aren't exactly known for letting you have privacy, you know? So, I figure a little potion, a little spell and maybe I can keep them from interfering in Wyatt and Chris's lives. They deserve that much at least."

Phoebe stood to go back into the kitchen. She paused and looked at Henry, "Look maybe you should go home and get some sleep. I'm, well, I'm not really good company when I'm thinking about Cole. For good or for bad he always managed to turn my world upside down. It's a bit much to handle right now."

Henry nodded sympathetically, "I understand. I guess it never gets better. You know, being here when they aren't."

Phoebe shrugged, "I think it'll get better for you Henry. After all, you didn't help to kill Paige. Right or wrong, I helped to vanquish someone I loved. And then, when I had a second chance, I couldn't take it. I have to live with what might have been. Maybe he would've gone crazy anyway. Maybe he would've gone evil again. Maybe if I'd quit running so hard he'd still be here. He was invincible. Maybe if I'd helped him when he came back, he'd have been able to help us with Billie and my sisters wouldn't have died. But I don't know that. I can't know that."

"You realize I barely followed any of that."

"I told you what thinking about him does to me," Phoebe pointed out.

"Yeah, you did, and you're right. I should probably go home. I've got work in the morning. Goodnight Phoebe."

"Goodnight," Phoebe replied as she saw him out. As she closed the door, she took a deep breath and shook her head. There would be time for thinking about Cole and that little round sphere later. Right now, she had other business to work on.

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A few weeks later, Phoebe limped along in a cemetery. She had gotten into a fight with a demon the night before and managed to re-injure the ankle that she had broken in the fight with Billie. Somberly, she stopped in front of Piper and Paige's final resting places.

Tearfully she touched both of their names before she began to speak.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I let you die. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you back. Sorry that I don't have the active powers to protect the boys, but I'm mostly sorry for what I'm about to do. But believe me, if I could think of another way, I'd do it."

Slowly, Phoebe turned away. Squaring her shoulders, she began to hobble as determinedly as she could towards a very familiar mausoleum.

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"Leprechauns?" Henry suggested as he leafed through the Book of Shadows.

Victor sighed. "I think that Phoebe is still angry with them for deserting the Charmed Ones. Besides, what are they going to do? Toss pots of gold at the demons?"

"Is the gold thing really true?" Henry asked.

"How would I know? The whole magic thing wasn't really, well it freaked me out when I with Patty. And with the girls it was more of a try to be supportive type thing," Victor replied as he glanced at his watch.

"That is the third time you done that in five minutes," Henry commented as he started to page through the book again.

"Yeah, well Phoebe is over thirty minutes late. What if she's in trouble?"

"Victor, I know you're worried, but even I know that Phoebe's ability to be on time is questionable."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Phoebe said as she came through her front door.

"Where were you?" Victor immediately questioned.

"I was… Did you bring the Book of Shadows down into my living room?"

"Phoebe," Victor said as he tried to use his best 'father' voice.

"I was out checking on something," she answered hesitantly.

"Did you find any help?"

"No, but that wasn't what I was looking for. Dad, we're going to have to be realistic. The magical community, what's left of it, isn't really on our good side right now. Especially after we told the Elders to go screw themselves," Phoebe paused when a horrified expression crossed Henry's face. "What?"

Henry pointed at a page in the book. Phoebe sighed and slammed the cover shut on the book.

"Don't think about it too much. It'll give you nightmares," she told him.

"What were you looking for then?" Victor asked.

"Well, you know I've been doing some thinking, and some checking. On the one hand, we could call up the Elders and apologize."

"No, absolutely not," Victor said emphatically.

"Dad, the forces of good are pretty much in with the Elders," Phoebe pointed out.

"I thought you agreed with me on this Phoebe. They came to take the boys away, not to offer us help."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure that I'd thought about the options. Dad, if we can't get one of the forces of good to help us because the Elders are playing politics, we have to look outside their sphere of influence. Most of the beings higher than the Elders don't really care to help out with protecting a now powerless twice-blessed child and his baby brother."

"I'm assuming you're leading up to something with this?" Victor said when Phoebe stopped to take a breath.

Phoebe nodded and sat down on the edge of her couch. "If the Elders are going to stop us from getting help from other witches and good magical beings, the only other help is from someone who isn't quite so… good."

"Wait, you want to hire a demon for help?" Henry asked incredulously.

"No, don't be silly demons are evil," Phoebe sounded shocked.

"Well you've got Henry and me both concerned here," Victor said.

"In my time as a Charmed One there were some magical beings that were sort of stuck between being good and evil. Trapped you know? The guy that was fated to be a warlock because of his gene pool or the human guy that was trying to become a demon. Drake…"

"You think one of them might be able to help us?" Victor asked suddenly interested.

"Well, not them. The warlock guy became a priest, even if he could get powers now, he wouldn't. And the human guy is back to being human. I tried searching for Drake. Wherever he is, I don't think he's coming back."

"So we just have to find some random evil person wanting to be good? Great," Victor said in exasperation.

"There is another option," Phoebe spoke slowly obviously dreading what she was about to say.

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Three days and one demon attack later, Victor stood in the middle of a circle of candles in Phoebe's attic.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered.

"You can't believe you're doing this? He's my ex-husband. The ex-husband that I vanquished, vanquished twice if you count the alternate reality me."

"Why don't you go talk to him?"

"Because it's Cole," Phoebe replied as if the answer was self-evident.

Victor chose to simply glare at his daughter.

Phoebe sighed, "Dad, there was a time that if I had asked, Cole would've done anything for me. And I mean anything. The vision that I saw of him helping Piper makes me think that he may have grown a bit, but... he's still Cole. If I ask him, he might just say yes because it's me. I, we need him to say yes because it's the right thing to do."

"So this has nothing to do with your feelings for him?"

"Daddy, I got over him a long time ago," Phoebe replied as she lit the final candle.

Victor jerked as he felt himself start to dematerialize.

"Good luck," Phoebe whispered.

Victor blinked once and found himself in what appeared to be a very foggy, grassy field. There was nobody in sight.

"Well, this is just great," he grumbled as he trepidatiously took a step. Relieved that the world did not fall away beneath him, he began to stroll along a bit more confidently. Just as he was beginning to think that all that all he was going to ever see was very boring grass, he heard a polite cough behind him. Victor turned around quickly.

"You look surprised to see me," Cole noted as he leaned against a tree that seemed to have grown out of nowhere.

"I was starting to think that you weren't here," Victor replied.

Cole shrugged in a nonchalant manner, "Of the Halliwells that I thought might come, you weren't even on the list, so I missed you coming here. You shouldn't have worried. Phoebe knew I was here," Cole cocked his head to one side, appraising Victor, "I forgot how good at her craft she is when she concentrates."

Victor paled slightly. "How do you know Phoebe sent me?"

"I didn't. I just knew that she was searching for me a few days ago. I felt it, and if I felt it, she felt it."

Victor frowned. He didn't like the tone that Cole's voice had been taking on while talking about his baby girl.

Cole smirked a bit. "Come on Victor, I'm dead. I'm not going to interfere with Phoebe's marriage to Mr. Wonderful Diaper and Arrows man."

"You know about Coop?"

"I know that the Elders sent him so that Phoebe would fall in love with him and spawn a billion little cupids, yes," Cole said ruefully. "But," he continued, "I'm not going to do anything. I told Piper that I wanted Phoebe to find love again. If the Elders somehow managed to not bungle up, well I'm not going to complain if he makes her happy."

"The Elders sent Coop to help Phoebe find love," Victor responded with a bit more bite than he really felt.

Cole stared at him dumfounded. "You don't really believe that do you?"

"They didn't?"

"No, they didn't. They sent him because he's all goodness and light and everything that Phoebe wants in a man," Cole stared down at the ground looking for all the world like he was pouting. "Apple peel is still mine I say," he mumbled under his breath.

"Apple peel?" Victor's voice reflected his bewilderment.

"Never mind. I take it you came here for something other then a social visit?"

"I did," Victor replied as he tried to think of how to phrase what he was about to say. Cole obviously had not heard the news that Phoebe had parted ways with Coop. In fact, given the fact that he did not know that Phoebe had sent Victor, there was a good chance that Cole did not know that the Charmed Ones were no more.

"I need your help," Victor stated firmly.

Cole looked surprised. Victor fought down a smug smile that he'd caught his former son-in-law off guard.

"I don't think my license to practice law is still valid," Cole snipped.

Victor's ego deflated a tiny bit at Cole's quick recovery.

"I need you to help protect Wyatt and Chris," Victor managed to force himself to say.

"I don't think I have anything to offer that Piper and her sisters need."

Victor swallowed, hard. "When was the last time you checked in on the girls?"

"A while ago, I believe that Phoebe was confessing her love for the cupid to her sister. You might see why I didn't want to hang around. I may be doing penance for the evil I've done, but I don't…"

"Piper's dead," Victor blurted out in the middle of Cole's sentence.

"Dead? How?"

The tone in Cole's voice surprised Victor. It almost sounded like the man cared for Piper's well being.

"A couple of witches killed her and Paige."

"Witches? But Piper and Paige aren't evil."

"Yeah, well the witches were. Look, that isn't the point. The point is that I need help protecting the boys."

"I seem to remember Wyatt making Piper invincible when she was pregnant."

"Well, he doesn't have his powers anymore. Do you think I'd be here, wherever here is, talking to you of all people if he did?"

A chair appeared and Cole sat down on it with a thud.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Cole replied dazedly.

"Make the chair appear."

Cole shrugged, "This is limbo. It reflects what is inside of you. With a few years practice, you learn how to make things."

"Why me?" Cole finally asked.

"Because there is nobody else that can help," Victor replied carefully.

"And you think I can help? Victor, I'm dead. Most demons that are going to attack you aren't going to be stuck on the cusp of a major decision that can condemn or save them. They've already chosen. Talking to them from limbo isn't going to help you protect those grandchildren of yours."

"Phoebe thinks that she can bring you back."

"Phoebe thinks a lot of things when she's emotional," Cole replied almost bitterly.

"Well, I'm glad you think so, because now I know that this was just a great waste of time. Phoebe put a vote of confidence in for you. Now I see that you're just the same self-centered bastard that drug her down to be the Queen of the Underworld."

"I maybe be a self-centered bastard, but I am tired of your family's double standards. Your daughters couldn't fight off being possessed without help, and I was supposed to just fight off the Source of All Evil? You want to blame me for what happened when I was Belthazor? Fine. Want to blame me for going crazy after I came back from the Wasteland? Fine. But don't you ever blame me for the Source again. I don't think you have the right. Especially not you who was frightened off by a little magic and freaking Penny Halliwell," Cole snarled.

Victor glared at him. Cole glared back.

"Well, I think I should be going then. You obviously don't want to help us," Victor finally broke the silence.

"I never said that I didn't want to help."

"Are you this difficult by nature or is something little demons are taught growing up?"

"Honestly? It's my nature."

Victor pondered that for a moment. "There are a few other thing that are in your nature. If you agree to help, you're going to have to agree to a few rules."

"I'm listening."

"No turning evil. No turning either of the boys evil. No turning anybody evil."

"Seems simple enough."

"No Phoebe," Victor said sternly.

"Given that the boys are her nephews, I think it may be a bit hard to avoid her."

"I mean keep your hands off of my daughter. You put your filthy paws on her for sex or violence, and I will find a way to have your male organs removed."

Cole blew a stream of air through his lips. It wasn't like he had a chance with her now that she had her cupid anyway, "Fine. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Phoebe said that she needs some of your flesh when you become corporeal again."

"That won't help her much if I'm still unvanquishable."

"Phoebe seems to think that you're going to appear in the last form you had."

"In that case, she can have all of the skin that she wants from me," Cole agreed with a sardonic smirk.

"I suppose I'll be going then. Oh, and Cole, I'm not a Halliwell. Remember that."

With that, Victor recited the words that Phoebe had given him that would return him.


	7. Chapter 7

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (7/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Poor Henry, he's becoming my personal plot device for exposition. A teensy tiny bit of Paige/Henry in this chapter if you don't like it, be forwarned.

Thanks again for all the reviews.

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Phoebe took a deep breath and tried to pretend that there were no butterflies in her stomach. Desperately she tried to summon the cold detachment that she had used when she had turned the nexus against her ex. Damn Coop, if he hadn't helped take down those barriers, she'd be able to do it.

Well, she'd just have to settle for a cordial indifference. She could do it. She was a good witch, a strong witch. She could withstand a pair of blue eyes and a pretty smile. She was stronger than that. She knew it.

"Ready?" she asked nervously.

"Have been for then last fifteen minutes," Victor replied his voice filled with his own doubts.

"Right. Okay, here goes nothing," she said as she threw a potion into the middle of the circle of objects that she had on the floor.

"Don't you have to say a spell or something?" Victor asked when the potion remnants just sat in the middle of the circle occasionally emitting a puff of steam.

"I said the spell over the potion. Don't worry it'll work."

"Tell me why you couldn't use this to bring your sisters back?" Victor asked nervously as the steam began to billow.

"Because they're in heaven and Cole is in limbo. And because Cole was sort of trapped between two realities, it's kind of different."

The steam from the potion formed a dark cloud in the circle, and the cloud actually began to rain.

"Is it supposed to be doing that?"

"Yeah, you see when the Zen master was trapped in an area of Limbo, the way out was through water. Only, I didn't think that then one Zen master I know would be very interested in bringing back, well, a half-demon. Still, the water principle should work. Besides if it doesn't, it still looks cool."

A small lightning bolt shot out of the cloud and hit the floor leaving a scorch mark.

"Guess I should be glad that I haven't gotten new flooring up here yet," Phoebe commented.

As more lightning strikes began to happed, the cloud began to swirl in a tight circle. The water that had fallen from the clouds started to ripple underneath it, but did not splash outside of the circle.

"Phoebe, did you create a tornado in your attic?"

"Actually, I think it's more of a typhoon."

"Is everything okay up here?" Henry asked as he poked his head through the attic door.

"Fine, I thought I told you to keep the boys downstairs," Phoebe reprimanded.

"The boys are downstairs. Is there a hurricane in the middle of your attic?"

"No, there isn't. It's a typhoon," Phoebe replied defensively.

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"Not exactly. Look, Henry, just go downstairs and…"

A strong gust of wind blew through her entire attic cutting off Phoebe's words. The storm and the wind ceased and Cole for the first time in years stood before her.

"Ow," he muttered as he rubbed his shoulder, "I think I got hit by lightning."

"Oh my god," Phoebe finally managed to squeak out.

"Why is he naked?" Henry asked.

Cole looked down at himself, "I was wondering why it felt chilly in here."

"Very funny; cover your hairy self up," Phoebe snapped as she threw an old blanket at him.

Cole grinned at her as he wrapped the blanket around himself, "Oh don't be like that. It isn't anything you haven't seen before."

Phoebe stared daggers at him.

"Multiple times in fact," Cole egged her on further.

"There are other people in the room," Victor reminded them.

Phoebe turned away and hid her blush. For a few seconds, she and Cole had been the only two people in the whole world. Inwardly she cursed at herself. That had always been one of their problems. They could be so obsessive about each other that they did not notice anybody else.

A loud zapping noise caught her attention.

"Are you planning on letting me out of this cage, or am I supposed to help you from here?"

Phoebe grabbed a knife, walked over to Cole and handed it to him through the barrier.

"Skin first," she demanded.

"You never said I had to cut it myself," he complained.

"Well, if I'm wrong and the blade dissolves in your acidic blood then I can send you straight back to limbo so you don't go homicidally crazy again."

Cole sighed, closed his eyes and became Belthazor. He smiled slightly when he heard Henry and Victor try to scramble away from him. Phoebe merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Your vanquishing potion will work better if I'm in my demonic form when I take the flesh. Besides, it'll hurt less," he responded to her look.

"Really," she replied with a glance to the two mortal men in the corner of the attic.

"Oh, come on Phoebe, can't I have just a little fun?"

"Flesh," she demanded not even rising to the challenge that he was trying to set before her.

"Fine," he snapped perturbed that she would not even yell at him. Viciously, he drew the blade across his left upper arm. He grabbed the resulting slab of skin and threw it through the barricade at Phoebe's feet. Phoebe picked it up and threw it at a bubbling electric cooker that was on a table nearby. She smiled at the resulting explosion. Victor gagged at the oozing wound on Belthazor's arm.

Phoebe kicked one of the crystals out of the way, grabbed Belthazor's hand and made him sit down on a chair. She then grabbed some gauze and tape.

"Would you mind being, you know, Cole? The smaller biceps will make this easier to wrap."

He groaned slightly when he shifted back. It was mortifying really, the great Belthazor acknowledging the pain like that. Angered with himself that he allowed the pain, he grit his teeth together and stared straight forward when Phoebe applied the antiseptic.

It was uncomfortable, Cole reflected, having Victor and Henry as bystanders watching Phoebe patch over his wounds. Odd that he had never cared when Phoebe had doted on his injuries in front of her sisters. He wondered if it was because his relationship had changed with her. Actually, he did not wonder. It was not true. He felt uncomfortable because Victor and Henry were not magical beings. They were not supposed to be seeing a demon slice off a piece of his own skin. It was unnatural. Unnatural… the irony of Cole thinking that about anybody but himself would have made Paige laugh if she were still alive.

"All done," Phoebe said as she taped the final layer in place.

"Thank you," Cole said as he had no idea what else to say.

"So, why don't you come downstairs and meet the boys?" Victor mentioned when Cole seemed to stare at Phoebe a little bit too long.

Cole looked at him askance, "You want me to meet your grandchildren while I'm wrapped in nothing but a blanket."

"Can't you just conjure your own clothes? I thought you could," Henry sounded confused.

"Only when I turn into Belthazor, which you really don't want me to do that much. And how did you know about that?"

Henry shuffled his feet. "I read one of Paige's personal journals. She had about twelve pages dedicated to you in it."

"I'm guessing they weren't about my blue eyes and sexy smile like Phoebe's journal."

"You read my journal?"

"Yes. Why do you sound shocked?"

"Maybe because I thought you valued my privacy."

"Well, last I checked, you were telling me how evil I was, so one would assume that you wouldn't be surprised by a little snooping. Besides, you're the one who left them at the penthouse."

"Oh, and that makes it right?"

"No, it made it tempting, and in case you don't recall, I wasn't exactly able to resist temptation very well back in those days."

"Whoa, whoa, time out. You two agreed to move past that," Victor pointed out.

"You're right Dad. I'm sorry," Phoebe conceded.

Cole said nothing. Phoebe politely kicked him in his shin.

"Sorry Victor," he mumbled.

Phoebe plastered a big grin on her face. "Well, Henry, why don't keep your good buddy Cole here company while Dad goes downstairs and takes care of the boys."

"Wait, where are you going?" Henry asked a bit unsure of what was expected of him.

"I'm going to go buy Cole some clothes."

"Yes, I know, no spandex except for the underwear and all cotton socks," Phoebe added when she saw Cole begin to open his mouth.

The three men watched Phoebe waltz out the attic door.

"I think she forgot to ask for sizes," Henry commented.

Cole smiled fondly at the door. "No, she didn't. She still remembers."

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"Nice house you've got here Victor," a now dressed Cole commented as he looked around the very small guestroom that he had been told he could use as his own.

"Oh, it isn't my house."

"It isn't?"

"No, it's Phoebe's," Victor responded.

"Phoebe's… Don't you think that this might be a touch awkward? Me living here?"

"I think that your issues with Phoebe are going to be there no matter where you live."

"What issues would those be? The purple slacks she bought me or the canary yellow sweater with the blue polka dots?"

Victor laughed, "I can't say that you didn't deserve them."

Cole shrugged, "You're probably right, but I'm not speaking about Phoebe. I'm talking about Mr. Halliwell."

"Mr. Halliwell?" Victor asked in confusion.

"Phoebe's husband, you know, Coop? If he is anything like most men, he's not going to want the ex living with them."

"Who won't want who living with whom?" Phoebe asked as she walked into the room.

"Coop, I don't think he'll like me being here," Cole stated.

"Well, he might not like it, but I don't see how it's relevant," Phoebe responded easily.

"Phoebe, despite what you might think of me, I don't want to cause problems in your love life. You should think of your husband."

Phoebe felt the urge to laugh as she looked at the incredibly concerned look on Cole's face. He was trying so hard to be good, and yet the look in his eyes told a different story from the one on his face. Cole Turner wanted Coop to be happy about as much as he wanted to confess his undying love for Prue.

"Well, which husband would that be exactly? You or Dex?" Phoebe replied with a wry grin.

"You haven't married Coop yet?"

"No. I'm not going to marry Coop ever."

"But, you love him," Cole replied his voice a bit bewildered.

"Yes, I did love him. But if being with you taught me anything, it was that sometimes love isn't enough. And then the point got hammered in by Jason after you. Look, it doesn't matter. What matters right now is that supper is ready. So you two finish up in here and come downstairs."

With that, Phoebe turned around and walked out the door.

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Henry sighed as he pushed the door to his apartment shut. Dinner had been an interesting affair to say the least. He wasn't sure what he had expected of Cole, but he had to admit that an actual person was not what he had expected. Paige's notes had depicted Cole as a conniving evil doer. Henry had half expected that Cole would have horns.

Sure, Henry knew the dangers of stereotyping. A bad guy could be as clean-cut and baby-faced as they could come. But for as clever as Cole had seemed, the man struck Henry as more lost.

Henry shook his head as he readied himself for bed. He was glad that he did not have to have a discussion with Paige about Cole.

"What has Phoebe done?" Paige's voice interrupted Henry's slumber a few hours later.

"What?" Henry replied as he tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

"What do you mean what? What did Phoebe do?" Paige demanded as she threw a newspaper at him.

For a split second, Henry was worried that he was going to have the Cole Turner argument with Paige after all. Then he looked down at the paper in his lap. There was a blank gray space where Phoebe's portrait normally printed alongside her column. The questions and answers under the "Ask Phoebe" heading were nothing but gobbly gook.

"What is this?" he asked.

"That is what any whitelighter is seeing when they grab a paper with Phoebe on it. Nobody can orb into her or Victor's places. In fact, I'm the only one that they've found that can still get into your place. So what did Phoebe do?"

"Oh," Henry commented when he finally figured out what was going on.

"Oh?" Paige prompted him.

"Well, Phoebe did some sort of magic that keeps the Elders from interfering with the boys."

"Phoebe did this on purpose?"

"Pretty much," Henry confirmed.

"Oh, well in that case, I suppose I ought to be proud of her. I didn't think she was that sneaky."

"You're okay with this then?" Henry asked.

"Well, I'm not okay with it in the sense that I'd actually like to visit my nephews a few decades down the road. But as far as why she did it, I'd have to say I'm impressed. I just hope she thought this whole thing through."

"Paige…"

"Henry, I can't. I have to go now. The only reason they let me come is because I could get through. I'm sorry," Paige said as she orbed out.

Henry stared at the space she had occupied. "So am I, Paige. So am I."


	8. Chapter 8

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (8/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: An all Phoebe/Cole chapter. No, I didn't plan it that way, but as it is a Pho/Cole story… :D

Thanks again for all the reviews.

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Phoebe rolled over on to her stomach and blinked bleary eyes at her alarm clock. Her eyes flew open as she realized what time it was. Hastily, she grabbed the baby monitor by her bed and rushed to Chris's room. He wasn't there. Panicking, she checked Wyatt's room only to find that her other nephew was not in his room either.

"COLE!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs.

"In the kitchen," a much more calm voice responded.

Anger warred with her panic. She brought him back to protect the boys and there he was in the kitchen… making Wyatt's breakfast.

"What are you doing?" she asked as relief and embarrassment replaced fear and anger.

"Making breakfast?"

She glared at him because she did not know what else to do.

"Didn't your Grams ever tell you that your face would freeze that way?" he asked jovially as he settled Chris into his highchair.

"You got the boys up?"

"No, Chris got me up. Apparently, he needed his diaper changed. Let me say that potty training will indeed be a blessing. Anyway, as I saw that you have a feeding schedule posted on the refrigerator, I figured that I might as well let you sleep in. By the way, when did you start scheduling anything?"

"When my sisters died, and I had to remember Piper's schedule," Phoebe responded as she picked Chris up out of the chair he had so recently been placed in.

"You don't need to double check. I do know how to change a diaper Phoebe."

"Really? They teach that in the how to kill a witch seminars?"

Cole tried for a second not to be hurt. He failed. Putting on the nastiest face he could ever summon when talking to Phoebe he blurted out, "If you must know, I learned how to change a diaper when I found out that my wife was pregnant."

Phoebe looked down at the floor and didn't respond.

Cole uncomfortably went back to making the coffee that he had started to make after he had given Wyatt his cereal.

"Is he always that quiet?" Cole finally asked.

"Wyatt?"

"Yeah."

"Wyatt never really talked much. Using his powers was more natural. I guess he didn't really feel the need to talk a lot. Then Leo was taken away from us, Piper died… I guess he just hasn't really had a reason to talk more. And who could blame him? His life got sucked away from him before he got to kindergarten."

"Well, you could look at the bright side," Cole suggested.

"And what bright side would that be?"

"He's still alive."

"Cole, that isn't really a very bright side."

"Phoebe, he has a chance. Your mother died when you were too young to even remember much about her. Don't you think that your Grams felt the way that you're feeling right now? People die. Young people, old people, people with infants and toddlers. Whether it is demonic or natural, they die. It isn't nice, but it happens. And if your Grams was here right now, she'd probably tell you the same thing."

Phoebe smiled. "Somehow I don't think Grams would like that comparison."

"Oh, I don't know. I think that our temperaments are very similar. We both love and fight with passion."

"Grams would spin in her grave if she heard you say that."

"Phoebe, we both know full well your Grams isn't spinning in her grave. She may, however, be making a vanquishing potion in the big cauldron in the sky."

Phoebe snorted at the mental image. Cole smiled slightly, relieved that she had showed an emotion towards him that was not anger or indifference.

"Are you going into work today?" Cole asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

"Yeah, I was planning on it. Why?" Phoebe responded as she began to rummage around in the refrigerator.

"I was wondering about the boys. I mean, we haven't exactly gone over what you want me to do here. Am I babysitting? Following Victor around like a shadow while he looks after them? Do I need to call your brother-in-law over and have him watch the boys?"

Phoebe looked at him with a surprised look on her face. "Of course you're taking care of them today. That was part of the agreement."

"It was? Because honestly, I get the feeling you don't exactly trust me with them. I mean, you didn't even trust me to change the diaper right."

Phoebe opened and closed her mouth several times.

Cole merely raised one eyebrow at her, folded his arms across his chest and stared.

"I… You're right. I guess I haven't really thought this through all that well. I've just been jumping from one moment to the next trying to keep everything together. I've never been the together girl. You know that. I've never had to be the big sister. Even when Piper took a step back from head witch, Paige took over." 

"Well, we aren't talking about being the 'head witch' of the Charmed Ones. We're talking about you being for all accounts and purposes a single mother. Phoebe, you can do that. I'm not saying you'll be good at it all right away. But you can do it. Besides, you have the best nanny that magic can summon."

Phoebe smiled slightly. "It's nice to see that we didn't manage to vanquish your ego."

"Not entirely, no."

"I'm glad. I don't think you'd be you without it."

"A compliment Miss Halliwell? You need to be careful, somebody might think you like me."

Phoebe simply shook her head and pulled a pen and paper out of the kitchen drawer.

"This is the address of the school that Wyatt goes to, Chris's daycare is nearby. These are the times that they need to be picked up and dropped off. I have a couple of amulets made for them. I couldn't make a protection one, but the ones that I did make should set off these crystals. They vibrate and glow if one of them is in trouble. Wyatt is blue, Chris is red. Purple means both... What?" Phoebe asked as Cole started laughing.

"You've created a magical pager."

"Well, yeah. You had a better idea?"

"Not at all. I do have some concerns about the whole idea though."

"What kind of concerns?"

"Well, I don't have a driver's license. That means I can't exactly go around driving a car, assuming that you have one that I could use that is. Now, I could probably shimmer around with the boys. It might be awkward if anyone ever notices I don't pull up in a car, but I could probably manage. The main problem though, is that my lack of a license means I don't have any photo identification. Which, if I recall correctly, you need when you are going to start picking up small children from daycare centers and schools."

"Oh, umm, okay. Well we should fix that shouldn't we?"

Cole nodded his head slowly. "I think that might be a good idea, yes."

"Okay, well I'll call Dad and have him drop off the boys today. When I get back from work, I'll dig out the spell that I used when we switched identities earlier this year. I should be able to rewrite it to create some identification for you. You still want to be Cole, or you want to be somebody else?"

"I think that Cole would be fine. After having that name for over one hundred years, it's a little hard to get a new one. Besides, I might be able to access my bank account."

"You've been gone a few years. What makes you think you can still access your financial funds?"

"Well, because you obviously haven't had me declared dead. So if I'm not dead, then all I have to do is come up with some identification and a reason why I dropped off the face of the earth for a few years. I think I'll go with mental duress after having my wife leave me. In a fit of grief, I went on a spiritual enlightenment quest while backpacking in Asia."

"That's very inventive. You spend all night figuring that out?"

Cole laughed. "Phoebe, please. I've reinvented my identity several times throughout the years. The only thing I need from you is the means to prove it."

"Right, I forget sometimes that you weren't always… you know."

"The Source of All Evil?"

"No, human," she admitted as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Cole shook his head in confusion. "Phoebe, I'm getting a lot of mixed messages here. I'm not sure if you think I'm evil incarnate or an innocent that you need to protect or…"

"I think you're Cole," Phoebe interrupted.

"Thanks for the clarification on that."

Phoebe sighed and looked up from the coffee cup that she was staring into. "I just didn't think this would be that hard. Having you here, I mean. I just seem to be bouncing from emotion to emotion. It isn't on purpose, and I don't really think it is you so much as it is me."

Cole smiled encouragingly at her. "Like you said, you've never had to be the 'together' girl before. It looks like Wyatt isn't the only Halliwell that hasn't had a chance to adjust."

Phoebe sent a grateful smile back at him. "Thanks for being understanding."

He simply grinned at her and grabbed a couple slices of bread. "You want some toast?"

"No, I'm okay," Phoebe replied as she successfully repressed the small twinge of attraction that came with seeing his smile.

"You don't look okay. You look like you've been starving yourself."

"I do not."

Cole shook his head and eyed her from head to toe. "Phoebe, I used to sleep with you. I used to sleep with you often. I know every part of your body, and you haven't been eating enough."

"Are you a doctor as well as a lawyer now?"

"No, but I don't think it is in the boy's best interest if their primary guardian starves herself into illness because she's under too much grief and stress to eat. So as you dragged me out of Limbo to help protect the boys, I feel it is within my job duties to inform you that you need to eat more. Your father thinks so too you know."

"You talked to Dad about my weight?"

"Well, we had to discuss something. And as neither of us wanted to have a discussion on what it's like to go mentally insane…" Cole left the sentence hanging not really knowing where he could go with the topic without damaging the progress he seemed to have made with Phoebe earlier.

Phoebe chose not to go after the opportunity to attack Cole. What good would it do? It wouldn't change the past and it certainly wouldn't help the future as long as he was going to be in her home.

Silently, she chewed on the toast Cole put in front of her.

"Cole?"

"Yes?"

"How did you know that we didn't have you declared dead?"

"Because you'd be living in a nicer house than this," he responded.

"What?"

Cole blushed slightly with embarrassment. "Phoebe, don't take this the wrong way, because I don't expect anything from you. I'm only saying this because you asked for an explanation."

"Okay, well I've got to say that you're making me pretty nervous with a lead in like that."

Cole cleared his throat and walked to the other side of the kitchen as if having more physical space would make what he was going to say easier.

"Phoebe, I was still in love with you. You hurt me. You tried to kill me, and I tried to kill your sisters. But the part of me that hadn't gone insane, the part of me that couldn't kill you, the part of me that will always love you… I couldn't let go of that. In the event of my death I left you everything that I owned. The bank balance you could have easily spent on various demon repairs. But if you'd sold off my non-liquid assets, you would have quite a bit of money. The family estate alone would be substantial."

"I'm sorry, the family estate? You never mentioned anything about a family estate." 

"You thought that a prominent politician like my father wouldn't have an estate?"

"No, I'm just a little surprised you didn't mention it when we were together."

"Well, when I was on the run from the bounty hunters and then when I had my powers stripped I couldn't exactly access anything I owned because of the danger that it would put both you and I in. Then when the Source recreated my identity, dredging up any of my personal family ties would have loosened his grip on me. Anything that strengthened Cole weakened the Source. That's why the Seer had to make the baby evil. Why she had to make me make you evil," Cole paused a moment as he unwillingly relived the hell that the Source had made of his marriage.

"I still had a choice," Phoebe offered softly.

Cole snorted. "You were carrying the first born of the Halliwell line. He was conceived to be evil. The first born is the most powerful, and the Seer turned him. The Seer used me to turn our… Phoebe I don't think I can talk about this right now."

"He wasn't really ours. The Seer said that it was a lie that she told the both of us. He wasn't our child," Phoebe said comfortingly.

Cole shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Did Paige's parents love her less because she didn't come from their bodies? Was she not your sister because Victor wasn't her father?"

They stayed in the uncomfortable silence for a while. Then Phoebe walked over to the phone.

"I'm going to call Dad and have him drop the boys off on his way to work. Then I should probably take a shower and get to work myself. Are you going to be okay by yourself?" She asked softly.

"I'm not going to get depressed and try to guillotine myself if that's what you're asking."

"Guillotine?"

Cole shook his head. "It's a long story. I'll be fine Phoebe."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Phoebe wasn't as sure as he was, but she did have to go to work. Besides, Cole had been taking care of himself before Grams had been born. He did not need a babysitter, and she certainly gave up the right to do so when she signed her divorce papers.

Ignoring the tender feelings that were trying to surface, Phoebe dialed her father's number.


	9. Chapter 9

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (9/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

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Phoebe heard a distinct giggle as she came through her front door. Peeking around the archway that led to her living room, she saw Wyatt on the floor playing. Cole lay on his stomach next to the boy. Phoebe covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as Wyatt tried to help a supposedly perplexed Cole with the large building blocks.

"You silly," Wyatt declared.

"Well honey, he's a lawyer. Sometimes they're a little slow," Phoebe said as she entered the room. It had been so long since she had seen her nephew laugh that she did not bother to give a lecture on proper grammar.

Cole blushed slightly as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Wyatt and I were having a discussion on his desire to be an architect when he grows up."

"Really?"

"Yes. Isn't that right Wyatt?"

Wyatt giggled. "He's silly," he told his Aunt.

A block suddenly orbed away from the floor and into Chris's hand. Wyatt's face fell and he picked up his bear.

"Chris, no orbing away your brother's toys," Cole reprimanded as he walked over to the playpen that Chris was in.

As Cole took the block away, Phoebe sat down on the sofa.

"Chris has been doing that since Victor brought them back earlier," Cole explained.

"Great, sibling rivalry. Just what I need right now," Phoebe muttered.

"You say that like it's the end of the world," Cole responded as he gave Chris on his own toys to play with and gave the block back to Wyatt.

Phoebe just glared at him in response.

"Phoebe, they're little boys. Witch powers or not, you are never going to be able to avoid sibling rivalry and jealousy. Or don't you remember how it was with you and your sisters?"

"I just have concerns," Phoebe said as she tried to unobtrusively gesture at Wyatt.

Cole sighed and sat down next to her on the sofa. As Wyatt began to play again, Cole lowered his voice to a whisper, "We will try to find a solution to this, but in the mean time, we shouldn't treat him like he's a cripple, Nor should we castigate Chris for still having his powers. If we can't fix Wyatt, he's going to have to learn to deal with his life as it is now. That means that he's going to have to get used to Chris being the one with the powers."

Phoebe leaned over to Cole and whispered back, "Don't tell me you had time to read parenting books too. I wasn't pregnant that long."

"Actually, no. I'm just trying to do the opposite of what my mother would have done."

"And how's that working out for you?"

"Great for the small amount of time I've been alone with them since your father drove them home. Speaking of driving…"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Don't worry I'll get you some legal papers. Do you think that this would fall under personal gain? The driver's license and stuff?"

"I think that it is a necessary evil if you want the boys safe. Besides, it isn't even technically lying. I am alive, and I am Cole Turner."

"Yes, but you aren't quite as young as it said on your old license."

"Like I said, it's a necessary evil," Cole responded as he got up off the couch.

He extended his hand to Phoebe. She took it, and he pulled her up on her feet.

"Why don't you go forge some documents for me while I work on supper?" he offered.

"Oh, you sweet talker you," Phoebe deadpanned as she began to move toward the staircase that led to the upstairs and attic areas.

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_A few weeks later_

Henry tapped his fingers against his desk. Agitatedly, he glanced at the clock on the wall willing it to move faster and signal the end of his shift. At least then he could go home and be in peace.

It was ridiculous really, the day was perfectly fine. It was a normal, uneventful day. It was the sort of day that police officers were supposed to be grateful for. Henry hated it.

He really had not had the time to think about much since Paige had died. There had been the funerals, Billie's trial, helping Phoebe… And now there was nothing. Phoebe did not need him now that she had Cole. Oh, it was not as if she had cut him off from being part of the family, and Henry was thankful for that. But at the same time, Cole's arrival signaled Henry's return to normalcy.

What was his part in the whole scheme now that he wasn't needed to be Paige's lover? He did not have the pull that Darryl had possessed when helping the Charmed Ones. He did not have any special knowledge about magic. He certainly did not have any magical powers. In fact, the only tie that he had was a brief marriage to a half-sister.

Henry stopped for a moment at that thought. He knew it was a foolish one. Phoebe had loved Paige. And Phoebe had continued to treat him as a brother even after Paige had died. Hell, if he showed up randomly for dinner, she would probably invite him in without a second of hesitation. He was sure of it. He still had his family. He was still Wyatt and Chris's uncle.

Henry paused. Maybe he'd stop by and see his nephews after work, just to make sure.

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Cole frowned when the doorbell rang. Phoebe wouldn't have a use for it, and Victor was out of town on a short trip that he had been delaying due to the familial pressures. Even if it was Victor, Phoebe's father had a habit of just letting himself in. Or so Cole had noticed during the short time that he had been back.

Cautiously, he opened the door.

"Henry," Cole said with a sigh of relief, "what are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd stop by. See how my nephews are," Henry said a bit uncomfortably.

"Come on in," Cole replied as he motioned with his hand for Henry to enter.

As Henry walked into the house, Cole closed the door after him.

"Phoebe isn't home yet; she had to work late on some special article. Did you need to talk to her about something?"

Henry shook his head. "No, I just came by to see the boys."

"Right," Cole said in a tone that clearly said he did not believe the other man.

"You don't think I care about them?" Henry asked defensively.

"No, I know you care about them. I just know that you aren't here to see them. At least, that isn't the only reason you're here," Cole responded as he walked towards the kitchen.

Henry followed him. "You're making dinner?" he asked hoping that the question would deter Cole from continuing to question Henry's motives for being at the house.

"I make dinner often. Phoebe and cooking don't mix well. When we were married, I was always making her food for her. At least, I was always buying it for her."

"I thought you were the Source when you were married."

Cole glanced over his shoulder at Henry then went back to rummaging through the cupboards. "I couldn't overcome the Source, but my love for Phoebe ensured that she was well taken care of, and you're avoiding the real subject."

"I guess I was a little lonely."

"Well, that's closer to the truth," Cole commented as he pulled a pot out.

Henry glared at him. Suddenly, he understood why Paige disliked Cole.

"And what do you think the truth is then?"

"That you don't know what your place is. Phoebe is here to take care of the boys. I'm here to help Phoebe take care of Wyatt and Chris. And Victor, well you aren't even really related to him. To top that off, you're a mortal. You don't know where you're supposed to fit in," Cole concluded.

Henry shifted uncomfortably with the succinct analysis. "And what makes you think that?"

"Because I used to be you. When I was human, completely human, I felt lost. I'd had the useful part of me ripped away. I didn't know my place anymore. I thought I was just another innocent getting in the Charmed One's way."

Henry shrugged. "I was never magical."

"I didn't say we were the same. I said that we're similar. I was wrong by the way. They didn't see me as dead weight that needed to be dragged along. And I wasn't just Phoebe's lover. They all cared about me in one way or another. If I had realized it back then, things might have been different."

"You had a longer history with them," Henry pointed out.

"I tried to kill them. I think that your history is much better even if it is shorter."

"I just wish I could help," Henry finally admitted.

"Well, if you would like to be of assistance…" Cole let the sentence dangle.

"What?" Henry asked suspiciously.

"Phoebe is worried about Wyatt's powers. I've been around a long time, and most of the talismans, spells and creatures that could remove his powers aren't what removed them. I have an idea of what happened. I just want to confirm it before I tell Phoebe."

"I'd like to help, but I don't see how I can."

"I need to talk to Billie Jenkins. In order to do that, I need to know her. What are her weaknesses? What can I use to get her to talk to me?"

"You want to talk to her? That is crazy! What are you going to do? Walk into the prison and tell her that you're the ex-brother-in-law of the two witches she killed?"

"No, I'm going to walk into the prison and tell them that I'm a lawyer."

Henry blinked a couple of times. "Why?"

"Why tell them I'm a lawyer?"

"Why me? I don't know Billie as well as Phoebe does."

"Because Phoebe won't like the idea," Cole responded simply.

"And I'm supposed to be thrilled with it?"

"No, but I'm not in love with you. And as unbearable as Phoebe will be to live with once she finds out what I've done, it will be worse if she disagrees with me, and I do it anyway."

"Wait, you're still in love with her?"

"No, I simply removed all my emotions and feelings and buried them in an urn in my family's mausoleum," Cole snidely replied.

"I guess I just thought that you two were just friends."

"Have you been living under a rock somewhere? I'm the hired help."

"Paige was right; you're an asshole," Henry shot back.

"Well, if Paige was so right about me, then she had to have been right about you. You've got to have that help the greater good instinct in you. So tell me what you know about Billie Jenkins."

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Phoebe dragged herself through the front door. Elise had been at her finest today, and Phoebe was exhausted. Wearily, she trudged to the kitchen. With a sigh of relief, she noted that there were only three other people there. Henry's visit the previous week had been a welcome surprise, but she really did not feel like having company over.

"I hate my job," Phoebe complained as she plopped herself down in the nearest chair.

Cole didn't respond, but Chris sent a sympathetic gurgle her way. After a short silence that Phoebe really didn't notice, the doorbell rang.

"I didn't have a chance to cook anything more adult for you and me, so I ordered Chinese. I hope you don't mind," Cole said in a monotone voice as he got up from his seat to go answer the door.

Phoebe didn't respond as she closed her eyes and tried to make her headache go away. It was strange. She hadn't felt so depressed when she had left work, and she hadn't had her headache either. Giving in to the pounding in her skull, she got up to get an aspirin. She frowned slightly when she saw the bottle already out on the counter.

Cole walked back into the room and dropped the takeout on the counter. "I think they got the order wrong," he said disinterestedly.

Phoebe was tempted to point out that she would not know if they had or had not gotten the order wrong as she did not know what Cole had ordered in the first place, but she decided she was just too tired. Instead, she just watched as Cole tugged his tie off and began to pull the containers out of the sack that the delivery man had given him.

Phoebe frowned. Why had Cole been wearing a tie? Summoning a bit of energy, her eyes scanned the room. A suit jacket was hanging over the back of one of the chairs. A briefcase was on the floor propped up against the edge of the cupboards. She let her gaze rest on Cole. He was wearing dress slacks and a dress shirt. If she recalled correctly, it had been one of his favorite suits. She had not been able to get rid of it when they vanquished him, so she had hidden it from her sisters and put it away in storage.

"Juice?" Wyatt's voice interrupted Phoebe's musing.

"Sure Buddy, anything you want," Cole said as he turned away from preparing his own meal and opened the refrigerator.

Phoebe opened her mouth to reprimand Cole for not making Wyatt say please. As she was about to speak, she felt the sudden urge to cry.

"Need anything else?" she heard Cole softly ask Wyatt.

Wyatt grinned happily and shook his head 'no.'

"Did you go somewhere today?" Phoebe finally asked. Suddenly, she felt guilty.

"Yes, I did," Cole responded. Phoebe felt hesitant.

Her eyes widened in both understanding and confusion. Her empathy was obviously back, but she knew her levitation was not. She always assumed her powers would return in the same order as they had originally developed. Her premonitions had not even caught up to the level advancement that they had been at when she received her levitation.

"I went to see Billie Jenkins today," Cole blurted out.

"What? Why?" Phoebe heard herself ask. She did not know what to think. In fact, she did not even know what she was feeling. The jumble of emotions was confusing her. At least she knew the confusion was her own.

"I needed to know what happened to Wyatt's powers. I figured that she was involved. I was right," Cole responded simply.

The overwhelming sadness coming from Cole made Phoebe give up on her irritation with him sneaking behind her back. She couldn't handle having that much negative emotion roiling in her at once, and she doubted that she could just tell Cole to snap out of his funk.

"The Hollow took them," he stated miserably before Phoebe could ask for details.

"The Hollow? How can we possibly get them back?" she asked in a stunned voice.

"I don't think we can," he softly replied before returning to his dinner.


	10. Chapter 10

Author: Escargoat

Rating: Why don't we go FRM – I'm going to be on the borderline of FRT, and I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Part: (10/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Many of you have expressed an interest in Wyatt's powers. When I originally came up with the concept for this story, one of the things I considered was that there would be no neat return of those powers. As such, it will continue to be a bit of a plot issue as I go through the story, but rest assured, it will be eventually resolved, just not in this chapter :).

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"Yes, that sounds like a spectacular idea Phoebe, why ever didn't I think of it?" Cole snarled at his ex-wife.

"Dammit Cole, he has a destiny to fulfill!" she snapped back.

"Phoebe, it is the Hollow. You know the thing that eats all magic? The thing that you aren't EVER supposed to unleash? Summoning it isn't just dangerous. It is the most asinine, stupid, idiotic, moronic thing you could possibly do!"

"You're just taking this way too personally."

"Given that the last time I encountered it I ended up possessed by the Source I think I have a right to take it personally," Cole responded angrily.

"So this is all about you?"

"No, it is all about the world and all those innocents that you are supposed to care about. Or have you gotten so wrapped up in Wyatt not having powers that you've forgotten what his destiny is about?"

"I haven't forgotten, but if he doesn't have powers, then he doesn't have a destiny to fulfill," Phoebe argued back.

"Well Phoebe, some destinies aren't meant to be fulfilled."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that sometimes the other side wins a round, and there is nothing you can or should do about it. If you summon the Hollow to try to retrieve Wyatt's powers, you could end up destroying the entire world. Do you really think that once magic is destroyed the Hollow will stop? Destruction is destruction and it is never satisfied. Once the Hollow is through with magic it will probably start to consume non-magical life too."

"Cole, I know the risks. But we got our powers back when we destroyed the Source…"

"You got your powers back because the Source had them. He was using dark magic to manipulate the Hollow. Once the Source was dead, it released the powers that it had consumed because of the will of the Source. It did not just release all the powers it had ever taken. You would not have been able to retrieve your powers if you had not killed the Source"

"So why can't this be the same?"

"You don't really mean that," Cole said in a shocked tone.

"Cole, in case you haven't noticed, I'm very serious about this entire topic."

"Phoebe, you would have to kill Billie. She is in a federal prison. You would be committing a crime in a federal building. Wyatt would have to live the rest of his life with not only the shadow of dead parents lurking over him, but an aunt who committed murder. It wouldn't be self-defense. It would be premeditated revenge."

"I didn't think…"

"No, you often don't," Cole snarled.

"Watch it buster, I can still send you back to whence you came."

"Oh, now there is a new solution," Coles voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Vanquishing you wouldn't be murder," Phoebe snarled emotionally.

"No, but I'm willing to argue that vanquishing a possessed mortal is," Cole bit back.

"You aren't mortal, and you aren't possessed!"

"I was!"

Phoebe physically stepped backwards as if she had been slapped. Cole's wounded eyes bored into her own for a second before staring at the nearest wall. She could physically feel the hurt and pain roiling around in him. Mentally, she tried to block him out, but Cole had never been one to feel things lightly, and his emotions kept pounding against her atrophied defenses.

Desperately, she forced herself to focus on the confusion and light fear that Chris and Wyatt were projecting. Their emotions were predictable. They were merely the reactions of children who did not understand why adults were arguing.

"I didn't have a choice," she finally said when she managed to calm down a bit.

"That is bullshit, and you know it," Cole grit out without looking at her.

"What was I supposed to do? Huh? Tell me what I was supposed to do. The Source had to die for the greater good of the world."

"And yet you are willing to risk destroying the world for one boy's powers? Like it or not, I was a human mortal that was possessed by the Source. You and your sisters chose to vanquish me, chose to kill me, instead of finding a way to end the possession before the vanquish. You did it for the greater good. I can accept that. But the Hollow can do much more evil than the Source ever could."

"What about all the innocents that Wyatt is destined to save?"

"Who said he can't save them? The Hollow took his powers, not his birthright. He's still a witch. He just isn't a powerful one anymore."

"He's supposed to be! All the prophecies…"

"Phoebe," Cole interrupted tiredly, "do all your premonitions come true?"

"No, that's why I get most of them, so I can change what happens. You know that."

"What about the good in your premonitions? Does that always come true?"

"Usually," Phoebe hedged thinking about the little girl she had given up on having.

"Then why can't you accept that another person's premonition won't come true? Or that the good foreseen will come true in a different way?"

"Because this is different," Phoebe replied weakly.

"Even if there was a chance that you could get his powers back from the Hollow, you aren't the third part of the Charmed Ones anymore. Wyatt isn't the only one who isn't as powerful as he used to be."

Phoebe hung her head in defeat. Cole, as much as she hated him at the moment, was right. Even if she could summon the Hollow, there was no guaranteeing that she could control it by herself. In fact, the odds were definitely against her.

"Do you remember Prue's funeral?" Cole suddenly asked.

"It's kind of hard to forget about," Phoebe responded acerbically.

"Do you remember why Paige showed up?"

Phoebe frowned. "Is this your way of saying that magic doesn't always work like you think it will, but it will always work?"

"In a way."

Phoebe exhaled noisily and put her hand to her forehead. "Fine. You win. I won't vanquish you, and I won't summon the Hollow. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep trying to get Wyatt's powers back."

"I don't want you to stop trying Phoebe. I just want you to be smart about what you do. After all, you brought me back to keep the boys safe, and that's what I'm doing."

Phoebe nodded. In truth, she just wanted to be alone. She had never realized how emotional Cole was before. He seemed to feel everything deeply, and she was having a very hard time shutting him out. His fear, his anger, his loneliness: all of his emotions were pounding at her, especially his loneliness. It felt horrible.

"Cole, could you put the boys to bed? I'm feeling pretty tired."

She could feel Cole's confusion and disbelief.

"You don't look tired; you look like crap. What's wrong? You didn't look like that two minutes ago."

His worry for her spiked through her head.

"I've got a bad headache from arguing with you. That is what is wrong," she snapped without really meaning to snap.

His worry increased, so did the pounding in her skull.

"I'll put the boys to bed, but first I'm putting you there. If you aren't going to tell me what's wrong, you're at least going to get a good rest."

"I think I can get there myself," Phoebe pointed out.

"Given how you look right now? I'm not so sure," Cole said as he extended his hand for her to grab. "Come on Phoebe, I'm not going to try to get fresh with you. I'm just making sure you don't pass out on the stairs."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand, and let him take her to bed for the first time in years.


	11. Chapter 11

Author: Escargoat

Rating: FRM.

Part: (11/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: Okay, remember that FRM rating? That rating is applying to this chapter. Fair warning that there is sexual content in this chapter that while non-graphic in nature may be disturbing to some readers.

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Phoebe smiled pleasantly as Elise walked out of her office. Still smiling, Phoebe got out of her chair, strode confidently to the door of her office and slammed it shut. She then proceeded to tap her head against the doorframe repeatedly.

She thought that coming to work would give her a reprieve from the tumultuous emotions of her ex-husband. It had worked. At least, it had seemed to work. She had experienced a busy morning with various meetings and chitchat. It had been fairly productive.

The problem was that the instant she was alone, she started to feel a slight tickle in the back of her mind. At first she ignored it. After all, it could be anyone. She had only had her empathy back for a very short amount of time. She could not be expected to simply be able to have it under control instantly.

Then Phoebe's phone rang. Cole had been on the other end asking about how she was feeling and expressing concern about her decision to go to work after how terrible she had looked the night before. As he had spoken, the tickle at the back of Phoebe's head had quivered with concern and confusion. Then Elise had walked into the office, and Phoebe had an excuse to get off the phone. She brusquely told Cole that she would call him back, and then hung up on him. When she felt the stab of hurt, she knew that the tickle was not just a side effect of poorly controlled empathy. It was Cole.

Phoebe groaned as she massaged her temples. She should not be able to still feel him when he was so far away. Yet if she closed her eyes and concentrated just a little bit…

Her impression from Cole at the moment was one of pleasure? That seemed wrong. Maybe she did not have anything to worry about.

Resolutely, Phoebe walked over to her desk, picked up her phone and dialed home. As she heard the phone begin to ring, the feeling changed to one of irritation.

"Hello?" an annoyed Cole answered.

"You sound cranky," a now re-worried Phoebe stated.

"Phoebe? What are you calling about? Is something wrong?"

"I told you I'd call you back," Phoebe pointed out.

"Oh, that's right. I didn't really believe you. Look, do you mind if I go dry off first? I was sort of in the shower."

Phoebe swallowed. "The shower? What were you doing in there?"

A silence answered her. "I didn't get a chance to shower before I had to take the boys to daycare and preschool." Cole finally replied.

Phoebe felt acute embarrassment. She was not sure if it was hers or Cole's or both.

"Oh, well why don't you go finish off, uh, dry off and umm, I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure," Cole replied.

They awkwardly said goodbye and hung up, neither intended to call the other back.

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Two hours later, Phoebe still could not concentrate. If she blocked out Cole, she had troubles blocking out the rest of the office. If she blocked out the office, she could feel Cole. And she did not want to feel Cole. She wanted to ignore him. There was something very wrong with being able to sense him from so far away. The only people she had that sort of connection to were her sisters.

"Phoebe, you look awful," Elise stated as she popped her head into her star columnist's office.

"I'm fine I just…"

"Look terrible." Elise firmly finished Phoebe's sentence for her.

"It is just stress. I'll be fine."

"I think I liked it better when you were running off on family emergencies all the time. Being in the office all day obviously doesn't agree with you. Take the rest of the day off. If that is how you look, I can't imagine what your column is going to look like."

"Elise," Phoebe began.

"Phoebe, it may have escaped your notice, but I am still your boss. Go home."

Phoebe sighed and began shutting down her computer.

"I'll see you tomorrow," a satisfied Elise stated as she walked away to go pester another writer.

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Phoebe silently walked into the house. Quietly, she crept over to the key rack and put her car keys on it. Cole's were gone. She felt stupid. Of course Cole's keys were gone. He always got groceries on Tuesdays.

Relieved that she would not have to speak with him about her health for at least another hour, she walked into the kitchen to get a bottled water.

"Well, we're finally alone," a sultry voice commented as Phoebe entered the kitchen.

Phoebe spun around and saw a tall blonde woman perched on the edge of the counter.

Raising her fists in a defensive position, Phoebe readied herself for a fight.

"Oh, I don't want to fight with you little witch. I'm here for Belthazor."

"What do you want with Cole?" Phoebe asked.

"My, my how defensive of you. I was under the impression that you no longer cared for him in that manner."

"He's a friend, and you appear to be a demon."

"How very astute of you. All those years being a Charmed One hone your demon detecting abilities, or was it the tail?"

Phoebe ignored the insult. "What do you want with him?" she demanded again.

"I want him to father a child of course. What else would a demoness want him for?"

Phoebe felt the shock cover her face, and she hated that the demon in her kitchen could see it.

"Come now, you don't think that you're the only one to ever want such a thing from him do you? Wait, I forget, you never wanted his spawn to grow inside of you. In fact, if rumor is true, you never really wanted him, never wanted the bond of matrimony."

"That is none of your business, and what you want from Cole is none of my business. I'm sure he can tell you no all by himself."

"Oh, he has. Well, he hasn't told me no in the past decade or so, but he'll say no. He always does," the demoness pouted.

"Then I guess that you should just leave before I vanquish you," Phoebe stated assertively.

"But I wouldn't get what I want if I did that. But with your help, I will."

"In case you didn't get the memo, I don't help demons. And, even if I did, what makes you think that I could help you?" Phoebe asked as she edged towards the cabinet where she kept the generic vanquishing potions.

"Well, Belthazor always says no to everybody. Everybody but you," the demon said with a pointed glance towards Phoebe's bosom.

Phoebe felt her skin crawl. "Whatever sick thing you want me to do, the answer is definitely 'no.'"

"I figured as much. Still it is the only way. I cannot obtain what I need by other means."

"I don't think you got the 'no' part," Phoebe said as she began to crack the door to the cupboard open behind her.

"Actually, I did. But, you see, there is a reason that I approached you instead of Belthazor."

"Really? What reason would that be?" Phoebe asked in the interest of distracting her foe.

"Belthazor is difficult to possess. They say that the Source himself had difficulties. You, on the other hand, have a rather good history of being taken over by magical lust."

Phoebe's hand grabbed the first vial it touched.

She was not fast enough.

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Phoebe hated being possessed by magical forces. The feeling of having something else override your influence over your body was not a pleasant one. She watched horrified as the demon stripped her out of her clothes and covered her body in only a sheer robe.

Phoebe gave the equivalent of a mental shove and was rewarded when her body jerked its left hand.

Her captor looked in the nearest mirror. Phoebe's own face contorted into a smirk.

"Your control is improving. Still, it won't help you. Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be gentle with his beloved Phoebe. That reminds me. I can't have him impregnating you, now can I?"

Phoebe tried to stop her body as it strode out of her bedroom and back down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Oh, quit projecting the disgust. You're killing the mood," her own voice whined.

"Ah, this is where I put them. It isn't the best, but it will have to do," the demoness chortled as she produced a box of condoms.

Phoebe summoned her power together and focused on her feeling of repulsion at what her possessor was attempting to do. She was rewarded with her body feeling sick to its stomach.

"You're cleverer than they say you are. Still, if being queasy was a problem for me, I'd have never been able to slaughter entire covens. All that blood, you know?" Phoebe's voice rang in her ears. "Now be a good girl. It looks like Daddy is home."

Phoebe could see Cole's car parked outside. As covertly as she could, she tried to touch the spot in the back of her mind that had bothered her so much earlier in the day. She was rewarded with the feeling of concentration and slight tiredness. Her captor seemed not to notice, so Phoebe attempted to push back against the feeling. Perhaps she could use enough of her empathy to alert Cole that there was something wrong. It did not work. His emotions did not change as he walked into the house.

She new the instant he saw her. The mind numbing shock was very evident.

"Phoebe?" his voice croaked.

"Hey, Baby," she heard her own voice respond even as her body sashayed towards his.

Phoebe practically cheered when the shock was overwritten by suspicion.

"Why are you wearing that?" he asked.

"I kind of thought that was obvious," her voice purred as her body pushed itself against Cole's.

He dropped the groceries on the floor and gently grabbed her shoulders. Pushing her back a bit, he looked into her eyes. "What spell did you do that backfired?"

"One to reveal my inner desires," she replied in a throaty voice as her hand began to rub against his chest. She stood up on her tiptoes and placed her mouth next to his ear, "I don't think it backfired."

Phoebe cursed Cole when she felt lust start to overwhelm his emotions. She struggled desperately as the demon slid one hand into Cole's hair and began to pull him down for a kiss. She could feel his breath against her lips.

"I can't," he whispered.

Phoebe was unsure of who was more shocked: her captor or her.

"What?"

"I promised your father that I wouldn't," Cole clarified as he backed out of the embrace.

Phoebe did not know whether to be thankful that her father had asked for such a promise, or annoyed that Victor had apparently thought that she could not handle Cole on her own. Given the current situation, she supposed she should be grateful.

"I think I'm a big enough girl to make that decision for myself. Don't you?" Phoebe heard her voice say.

"Phoebe, I promised, and I don't think you're yourself right now anyway," Cole replied although his tone was uncertain.

"Well, why don't you give me a chance to change your mind?"

The speed at which the demon moved was fast. Phoebe could feel Cole's surprise when her lips touched his. She felt his desire build as his mouth opened to accept the kiss. Then she felt it all replaced by absolute horror. Her backside hit the floor hard. She was obviously going to have to deal with a bruise when she got control back.

"You aren't Phoebe," Cole's voice was low and menacing as he loomed over her body.

Phoebe expected to hear protestations escape out of her mouth. She was surprised when a sardonic laugh escaped.

"You haven't lost your touch Belthazor."

"Who are you?" he demanded angrily.

"I'm somebody that needs something from you, and I intend to get it," the demon replied as she threw a potion at him.

It connected with a crash, and Phoebe could feel a haze settle over him.

"Cole, Baby, are you okay?" the tone spewing forth out of her mouth was concerned.

"Phoebe?" he replied in a disoriented tone.

"Poor Baby, why don't I help you to the couch?"

"I think that might be a good idea," Cole conceded as they moved towards the living room.

He sat down on the couch. Phoebe's body practically crawled into his lap. He did not resist the kisses this time, and Phoebe felt her captor's glee as Cole's hands began to roam.

"Not on the couch," he gasped when his mouth was free. Without waiting for a response, he stood and shimmered them into Phoebe's bedroom. Dropping her on the bed, he divested himself of all but his boxers.

He paused and looked at her for a long while, and Phoebe could feel confusion start to seep back into his mind. Mentally, she tried to cheer him on to fight whatever spell the demon had put on him.

"Come here," her voice commanded.

The confusion was pushed back in his mind as he crawled onto the bed next to her. He gently framed her face with her hands.

"I love you so much," he whispered before starting to kiss her again.

Phoebe just about felt her heart break. This was going to kill Cole when the spell wore off. She heard him moan as he pushed himself away from her.

"I need to hear you say it," he said as he looked into her eyes.

Phoebe felt her captor's annoyance at another interruption.

"Say what Baby?"

Cole's face fell just a little. "You really don't love me anymore do you?"

"Of course I love you. I will always love you. I just didn't know what you were asking for. You know that I'm not always the fastest on the uptake."

Phoebe felt her anger spike at the words. Unfortunately, all she could do was continue to observe.

Cole looked uncertain about the response, and Phoebe felt his confusion start to push through the fog again.

"Do you remember that time with the Zen master? When Paige was learning about potions?" he asked suddenly.

"Of course," the demon lied.

"If I'm wrong about this, when you're done being mad at me, remember that I was right then," Cole stated as he pulled his arm backwards and knocked her unconscious.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Phoebe awoke to a terrible throbbing in her temple. Gingerly, she touched her fingertips to it. Then she looked at her hand. She had touched her own temple. Her eyes snapped fully open. Cole was sitting cross legged on the end of her bed. Wordlessly he pointed to a scorch mark on the floor.

"I hope you made it painful," she commented.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked in an odd tone.

"Very."

He pointed to a severed tail on the other side of the room.

"Did you have a hard time switching back?"

"I didn't turn into Belthazor. I didn't need to. I guess that Prue and Paige were right. I'm still a demon, no matter what I do."

"Cole, she tried to rape us."

"And that makes what I did right?"

"She was a demon!"

"And she deserved to be vanquished, but I didn't have to take her tail off first," Cole said miserably.

"You listen to me. If you weren't a good person, if I didn't think you could do the right thing, I'd never have brought you back. She was a demon, and she deserved to die. Did you enjoy maiming her?"

"No, I just. I was so angry. She…"

"I know what she did Cole. I was there. What I'm concerned about is your self loathing. You aren't the person who hunted and killed witches anymore. You aren't the crazy man that killed a human threatening to expose me. If you were, you would never have stopped me from going after the Hollow yesterday."

"Stopping you from going after the Hollow doesn't mean I'm good Phoebe. It was guarded by both good and evil, remember?"

"Evil can't love. Do you remember telling me that?"

"Phoebe…"

"No, you listen to me. You are a good person, and you are not going to drive yourself crazy again over this."

"Your sisters would disagree with you about that."

"Well, my sisters aren't here to talk me out of it."

Cole looked surprised at her words. They sat in silence for a long time.

"How did you know it wasn't me? The second time I mean," Phoebe finally queried.

"I should get you some ice for your head. I wouldn't want the boys to have to see the nice bruise I gave you when they get back from Victors. I, I had him pick them up today. I told him that there was some magical business that they didn't need to be involved in," Cole evaded her question as he got up from the bed.

"You didn't answer my question," Phoebe pointed out.

"Yes, I know. That was an attempt to get you to drop the subject."

"You hit me hard enough to knock me out. I think I deserve an answer."

"It was what she said. You would have known what I wanted. If I wanted to indulge in lust with your body, I could find a shapeshifter somewhere. I know that you don't want me to feel that way about you. I'm sorry," he said quietly as he walked out the door.

Phoebe watched him go. Closing her eyes and resting her head on her drawn up knees, she cried for both of them.


	12. Chapter 12

Author: Escargoat

Rating: FRM.

Part: (12/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

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Phoebe sat quietly as she sipped her morning coffee. The lack of noise in the kitchen was disturbing. It had been so long since she had experienced a morning without the boys that she felt strange. Of course, the fact that she was alone in the kitchen with Cole had nothing to do with it. It was not like she had any reason to be uncomfortable around him.

She snorted at herself. She was trying much too hard to make yesterday just disappear.

"Victor called; he's going to drop the boys off here on his way to work," Cole mentioned.

"He isn't going to drop them off at daycare?"

"He didn't have time. He said something about an important client and a college fund."

Phoebe smiled despite herself. "Dad's been obsessed about making sure that both of them have college paid for. I think he's trying to overcompensate for not being the world's greatest dad when we were younger."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"He's whipping himself with guilt. It's not healthy."

"Phoebe, I'm not sure that either of us is qualified to make judgments on another person's mental status as the moment."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Phoebe inquired with not a little hostility.

"It means that we've been spending all of last night and this morning in complete denial."

"Fine, you want to talk about yesterday Cole? What was that wench doing in my home?"

"You make it sound like I sent an invitation out! Dammit Phoebe, I was a victim too you know!"

"I think that I made it clear that I knew that yesterday. I'm not the one who refused to talk to me all of last night."

Cole looked away from her. She was right. It irked him, but she was.

"It is very hard for a demon to crossbreed with a human. The resulting offspring usually die before the gestation period is over. When they are born, their human half is often too deformed to be of any real use. What power benefit that they attained from having humanity was destroyed by their own appearance," Cole paused a moment to allow Phoebe to digest the information.

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "My mother planned my conception in detail. Most demons when they choose to attempt to breed with a human… they choose less savory individuals. Mother theorized that was what made the surviving children so hideous. The evil human half embraced the demonic one. The outside appearance was a reflection of the soul. She chose my father rather specifically. Suppressing her demonic needs for years in order to sustain a courtship and marriage, she allowed my father to raise me for a few years so that I would form an attachment to him. My father's good nature had fought off the evil influences that would have corrupted my flesh, but it also left me with a good soul. Killing him in front of me was her way of destroying that soul."

"I don't understand," Phoebe said when Cole remained silent.

"I was a successful witch killer. You know that I was one of the Source's favorites, but I was a disappointment in other areas. I was unable to bring myself to rape a victim. Unable to take glee in seeing copious amounts of blood and intestines. I was a killer, but I was efficient, too efficient in the eyes of some. My humanity was a blessing, but also a curse - the same way that my demonic half is to me being good. Still, being half-blooded demon meant that I could more easily mate with a demoness. I could pass on part of my humanity, but it would be overwhelmed by the evil. At least, that was the theory. I didn't care to test it. Not even before I met you."

"They wanted to breed you like a dog? That's disgusting."

Cole laughed. "That's being a demon. Didn't you ever think that evil is more than killing witches and innocents? It's about destroying humanity, not just putting it to a merciful end."

Phoebe put a consoling hand on his arm. "I want you to know that I never thought of you like that. I never thought of him… I wanted to keep him. Before I knew that he wasn't ours, even though I knew he was showing evil tendencies, I would've kept him. I wasn't going to give up…"

Cole put his fingers against her mouth. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, and you certainly don't need to explain your actions again. I can't expect you to feel the same way that I did about him. To me, he'll always be mine. To you he never was. I can't change that. I don't want to change that. You've found peace with that situation. I wouldn't take that away from you."

Phoebe shook her head and pulled his hand away from her mouth. "No. I haven't found peace with it. I probably never will. What I got was a free out from a nightmarish situation. My son wasn't my son. He wasn't a part of you, so I didn't have to feel guilty about him. But when I didn't know that I had to live with trying to decide between my child and my sisters, my child and the world… I don't know what I'd have chosen. I couldn't have lived with myself either way."

"Phoebe, I…" the doorbell interrupted whatever Cole was about to say.

"That's probably Victor," he stated as he got up and went to answer the door.

Phoebe watched him walk to the door amazed that no matter how she tried to fix things with him, she just couldn't.

"Hey there," her father's voice cut into her musings.

Phoebe smiled weakly at him.

"Wow, Cole wasn't kidding. You look like hell," Victor commented as he sat down.

"It's nice to know that you two are so chummy," Phoebe commented.

"Hey, I'm just worried about my little girl. I can be worried can't I?"

"I'm sorry Dad. Things just have been a little tense since…"

"Since yesterday?" he father interjected.

"Since I got my empathy back," Phoebe whispered.

"You got one of your powers back?" Victor exclaimed.

Phoebe glanced around nervously, "Not so loud."

"I'm confused. I thought you blocked 'them' from hearing any conversations that take place here."

"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about Cole."

"You didn't tell him?"

"Obviously not if I don't want him overhearing me talk about it," Phoebe pointed out.

"I don't understand. Why don't you want him to know?"

"I don't know Dad, why did you make him promise to keep his hands off of me?"

"He told you about that?"

"No, he told the demon that possessed me yesterday. I just sort of overheard."

"I'm confused again," Victor stated simply.

"Look, if Cole knows he's going to act weird, and he acts weird enough around me already."

Victor shook his head, "I don't know what you expected. Phoebe, you've fallen in love with other men. With him, it's only ever been you. It's like expecting me to look at Paige and not wish that she were my daughter. He's never going to stop loving you anymore than I stopped loving your mother. I've had other women, but I've never felt about them the way that I felt about Patty. And it's unfair of you to want him to move on the same as it's unfair of him to want you not to move on. If I learned one thing, it's that you can't make those sorts of decisions for somebody else."

Phoebe looked down at her coffee cup. She closed her eyes as she felt tears build. "What if I didn't want to move on?" she whispered so quietly that Victor barely heard her.

"Excuse me?"

"It's nothing. Look, Dad I've got to get to work, and so do you. Thanks for taking care of the boys yesterday. I'll call you sometime next week. We can have dinner," Phoebe said as she practically sprinted from the room almost colliding with Cole on her way out.

"What was that about?" Cole asked.

"I'm not really sure," Victor replied.

"I leave the room for a few minutes to get the boys ready, and when I come back Phoebe is bolting from the room in tears, and you don't know why?"

Victor smiled condescendingly at Cole. "I didn't say I didn't know why. I said I'm not really sure why."

"That makes no sense."

Victor patted Cole on his arm as he got up to leave. "You're a lawyer. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Upstairs, Phoebe fought off the beginnings of Cole's headache.

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Phoebe typed furiously away as she worked on the next week's column. Elise had taken one look at her and sent her back home. Still, Phoebe had her laptop, and there really was nothing like a disaster at home to make her toil harder at work. Cole was still gone when she had arrived home, so she dug as far into her work as she could.

A quick knock on her front door announced a visitor. Shock overcame Phoebe's face when she answered it.

"Jason."

Her former lover smiled slightly at her. "Not who you were expecting."

"Not really, no," Phoebe replied as a nervous smile stretched across her face, and she let him in. "Why are you visiting me? Not that you can't. I mean, you still own the paper and all. I guess I mean, why are you at my house?"

Jason laughed. "You haven't changed all that much have you? To answer your question, I'm here because I feel guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Yeah. See, if any of my other employees had gone through what you did, I'd have done everything in my power to help them out. I didn't even send you a sympathy card. It kind of made me feel rotten about myself. Just because things ended badly between us, it didn't mean I had to be a prick about your situation."

"Well, don't feel too bad about it. I don't. That wasn't what I meant," Phoebe paused trying to think of something to say.

"It's okay. I think I can still translate Phoebe-speak into English. Look, I'd like to make it up to you. Do you need any help with school admissions for your nephews?"

"They aren't really old enough to be filling out college applications," Phoebe pointed out.

"I was thinking more along the lines of private schools. I figured you might consider sending them to one instead of a public school given how public your sister's deaths were. It might be easier for them not having to deal with as many nosy kids."

Phoebe rubbed her temples. "I hadn't really thought about it. I'm just interested in getting them a normal life right now."

"Look, Phoebe, I'm just interested in helping you," Jason said as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't think she needs your help all that much," Cole's icy voice cut into their conversation.

Phoebe almost fell over at the sudden stab of hurt and jealousy that Cole's arrival brought. She felt a pair of arms around her, steadying her. She looked up and was surprised to see Cole. He hadn't been nearly as close to her as Jason had been.

"You need to rest," he commanded as he led her to the sofa. "You need to leave," he bit out at Jason.

Phoebe frowned. Cole was acting like an asshole. She really should tell him that, and she would as soon as her heart quit feeling like it was going to shatter into a thousand little pieces.

"Who the hell are you?" Jason demanded.

"Someone who cares about a lot more than scoring with a hurting woman," Cole snarled.

Phoebe felt Cole's satisfaction as Jason backed up a step. She also felt the guilt that followed. Cole knew he was not acting appropriately.

"Really? I wasn't aware that acting like a Neanderthal was the proper way to show concern about somebody who has gone through what Phoebe has," Jason responded as he regained some of his bravado.

"STOP!" Phoebe ordered before Cole could reply.

She felt Jason's shock as Cole obeyed her and took a step back. Phoebe felt relief that she was able to feel his emotions. Until that point, she had only been able to feel Cole, and it had frightened her.

"Look, Jason, maybe you should come back later. We," she gestured between her and Cole, "were having a fight earlier. He's taking it out on you out of jealousy."

Jason nodded, "I'm sorry. Elise didn't tell me you were seeing anyone. I didn't mean to make it appear like I was being forward."

"Oh, you didn't. We just have issues right now," Phoebe said as she ushered Jason out the door. Slamming it shut before Jason could respond, she turned and glared at Cole.

He glared back.

"What fight was it that we were having exactly?" Cole demanded acerbically.

"The one where you act as if I'm your possession!"

"Being concerned about you is now a crime?"

"Cole, that wasn't concern, that was, was, I don't know what that was!"

"He was trying to take advantage of you!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm not your wife anymore."

Phoebe regretted the words the instant she said them. She felt like her heart was shattering again. Only this time, it wasn't just Cole who felt that way. It was so painful, she barely registered Cole slowly stride out of the room.

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Phoebe rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. Another morning had come. She didn't even bother to shut off the beeping. She did not need to snooze a few more minutes. Elise would just send her back home. She did not get up either. The thought of breakfast made her guts churn. She didn't have the fortitude to silently drink her coffee and feel Cole wallow in his misery. It was bad enough where she was. She did not need the added closeness that being in the same room brought.

"Are you going to get up or keep avoiding me?"

Phoebe sighed. The man had impeccable timing.

"I was going to keep avoiding you," she replied as she pulled a pillow over her head.

"How am I supposed to apologize if you won't even acknowledge my presence?" Cole demanded.

"I've acknowledged you."

"Phoebe, it is Tuesday morning. You haven't even looked me since last Wednesday afternoon."

Phoebe pulled the pillow off of her face. Cole looked terrible. His eyes were red, and he apparently hadn't shaved since she had last looked at him.

"Oh, Baby, come here," she said as she couldn't take his hurt anymore. Gratefully he came and eased himself down on the bed next to her. She gently ran her thumb across his lips before placing her own on them.

Her alarm blared to life and Cole disappeared.

"Phoebe, are you going to get up?" his voice came through her door. His tone was polite, not pleading, and his emotions were so tightly under control that Phoebe doubted even he knew what he was feeling.

"Yeah, just give me a little bit." She shut her alarm off and rolled out of bed. It was Tuesday, but she had seen Cole every day since their last argument. He was unfailingly polite, respectful and placid. She had only herself to blame.

She forced herself to trudge down to the kitchen.

"What do you think we should have tomorrow night?" Cole asked her.

"I don't know," Phoebe replied. Truthfully, she had almost forgotten that she had invited her father and Henry over for dinner.

"I was thinking pasta of come sort. It's easy to make."

"Sounds good," Phoebe replied in a non-committal tone.

"Are you going to work today?" Cole asked carefully.

"I don't think so," Phoebe replied in the same non-committal tone. She relished the short burst of relief that she felt from Cole. It was the only emotion that she would receive from him all day. She knew because it was the only emotion that he'd let out every other day since he'd found Jason in the living room.

"Do you want to come with me today?"

Phoebe blinked. That was new.

"Grocery shopping for tomorrow?" Cole seemed to need to clarify.

"Do you need the help?" Phoebe blurted out as her confusion did her talking for her.

"No. I just thought that maybe you wouldn't want to be alone in the house today."

It took Phoebe a while to realize he was referring to what had happened the previous Tuesday. It was oddly funny. She had been so preoccupied with their fight that she had forgotten all about being possessed.

"I'm not afraid of being alone in the house, Cole. You did a very good job vanquishing her," Phoebe paused before continuing, "But, if you'd like some company, I wouldn't mind going with."

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Going with turned out to be a terrible idea. The house afforded Phoebe the ability to put distance between the two of them. Being in the same car together only underlined how shut down Cole's emotions were. It was making Phoebe cranky because she had no idea what to do to fix the situation. What was she going to do? Confess her undying love to the man? He'd probably laugh to her face or worse yet feel nothing.

Irritated, Phoebe stared at the raindrops streaking down the window. The rain may not have reflected Cole's non-mood, but it certainly reflected her own. The car suddenly choked out.

Cole swore, and Phoebe felt relief as she felt a surge of irritation from him. He steered the car to the curb, popped the hood, and climbed out. A few minutes later, a much damper Cole climbed back in.

"You find out what is wrong?" Phoebe asked.

"Do I look like Leo to you?" Cole snarled.

"Do you want to call a tow truck?"

"Well, I can't just leave the car here, now can I?"

"Hey, I didn't make the car break."

"Well neither did I," Cole snapped back.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and got out of the car. She turned around, opened the backdoor, and began to pull the groceries out of the backseat.

"What are you doing?" Cole asked as he watched her.

"I'm taking the groceries home so the frozen items don't melt in the backseat while you're waiting for the tow truck."

"Phoebe, it's pouring out. You'll get soaked to the bone walking all that way. So will the groceries."

"I'm already soaked," Phoebe responded.

"You can't carry all of those by yourself," he pointed out.

"Then I'll take what I can," Phoebe said before she grabbed a few bags, closed the back door and started walking down the sidewalk.

Muttering under his breath, Cole grabbed the remaining groceries and followed her.

Phoebe knew Cole was following her. His irritation at the entire situation was like a beacon bobbing along behind her. Still, she did not slow down her pace. He could easily catch her with his longer strides, but he had chosen not to do so.

She was almost out of breath by the time she reached her house. Deftly, she unlocked the door and went inside. Cole stomped in after her.

"You're crazy," he ground out as he threw the groceries on the counter.

"And you're an asshole," Phoebe responded lightly as she set her packages down with more care.

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because you're finally showing some sort of emotion instead of acting like some robot."

"And whose fault is that?" Cole yelled at her

"Mine!" Phoebe shouted back.

"I have to call the towing company," he said as he started to shut his emotions down again.

Phoebe grabbed the phone away from him.

"Don't you dare avoid me," she bit out angrily.

"Why? What are you going to do about it?" Cole taunted as his ire began to build again.

Phoebe threw the phone against the wall not caring when it flew into pieces.

"Oh, that was very mature. You really shouldn't give lectures on proper behavior, Phoebe."

"Since when have we ever been proper?" Phoebe asked.

"So now there's a 'we?' You know what, forget this. Just send me back to limbo. I can't live with you like this."

"Well too bad buster, because I can't live without you!" Phoebe couldn't believe she had said that. From the look on Cole's face, neither could he.

Desperately, she tried to think of something to say, but she just stood there transfixed as Cole moved towards her. The next thing she knew, his tongue was in her mouth, and her legs were wrapped around his waist.

"Say it," he whispered as he began to nip at her jaw line.

"I love you," she admitted.

He moaned and pushed her back against the side of the refrigerator.

"Say it again," he growled as his right hand crept up her outer thigh.

"I love you."

He kissed her again then pulled his head back so he could look her in the eye. "Do you want me?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled at him and was flattered when she felt his heart jumped at the sight. She pushed her hips against him as much as she could in her current position. "I want you," she firmly declared.


	13. Chapter 13

Author: Escargoat

Rating: FRM.

Part: (13/?)

Season: Season 8 AU

Disclaimer: I don't own. I'm making no money. Rights go to whole bunch of people such as the (now defunct) WB, TNT, the CW, Spelling Productions, and others. I'm not any of those people.

A/N: There is sexual content in this chapter. Be warned.

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Phoebe sighed as she readied herself for bed. Dinner had been awkward. How could it not have been? She'd had sex with Cole while pinned up against the refrigerator. He had to leave to pick up the children soon after they had actually done the act. He hadn't seen the number of tipped over items Phoebe had when she went to put away the forgotten groceries.

When he had returned, he had called the towing company to take his car to the garage and assured her that he had filled the tank on her car. The rest of the evening had been peppered with awkward small talk. After all, they couldn't discuss the fact that they'd had sex in front of two small children.

Or, maybe they had just been too chicken to find the time.

"You know, I had hoped you had burned those pajamas by now," Cole commented from behind her.

Phoebe let out a yelp of surprise, and turned around.

"You forget how to knock on the door?"

"I didn't use the door," Cole replied smugly.

Phoebe rolled her eyes at him. "That doesn't really make it better you know."

"You never used to mind when I did that," Cole pointed out a bit nervously suddenly rethinking the impulsive decision he had made that had brought him to her room.

"Yeah, well, we used to be… I don't know what we used to be. We were never simple, but things used to be easier."

Cole smiled a bit sadly. "We used to not care. You were a witch, I was a hybridized demon, and we chose not to care about anything but loving each other. It made it easier to deal with what happened."

Phoebe sighed and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. "I think that was our problem. We didn't care. We focused so much on us, loved each other so much, that we lost sight of everything else."

Cole shook his head. "I don't agree with you. Phoebe, I don't think it is possible to love somebody too much. If anything was our problem it was not paying attention to us. Our denial of problems, our unwillingness to look at each other and see flaws – if we had just acknowledge my evil side a little more, then maybe you would have noticed that the Source wasn't me... Look examining the past is good, but dwelling on it isn't. I think that we need to decide where we are now."

Phoebe looked at him for a minute. "How long did you practice that speech?"

"Out loud? About twenty minutes. Internally? Since I left to pick the boys up."

"Figures. I spent the entire time worrying, and you were off actually thinking about it."

Cole smiled a more genuine smile than he had earlier. "I am a lawyer. I'm trained to think out my case. Besides, you have plenty of good qualities of your own. Give me a break on this one."

"Paige wouldn't approve of this you know. Hell, I know Grams and Prue wouldn't. Piper wouldn't like it either. After, you know, you went crazy and tried to kill her when she was pregnant."

"Well, if we're lucky, I'll take care of you and the boys good enough this time around, that they'll forgive you when you die."

Phoebe, for the perverseness of it, wanted to point out that she had not agreed to trying another round of the Phoebe-Cole melodrama. She wanted to ask him when he'd asked her if she wanted to have more than a quick screw in the kitchen. She had a thousand quips waiting to spurt out of her mouth. She chose not to say any of them. Phoebe Halliwell was tired of fighting off the loneliness that had been a perpetual part of her life ever since she had vanquished her husband. And from a non-selfish standpoint, she could feel Cole's trepidation. He was speaking in a smooth and confident manner, but his fear of another rejection was outstanding.

Phoebe opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Cole looked at her expectantly.

She closed her mouth and frowned.

He grinned.

"What?" she asked peevishly.

"You were always better at show than tell?" He asked in an innocent tone.

She smiled softly and grabbed his hand, gently tugging on it to get him to move closer to her. He complied and stood right in front of her. She didn't let go of his hand, instead allowing her thumb to gently trace over the back of it.

"I don't want to love you. I want – I wanted things to be simple," she confessed.

"It is a little late to want that Phoebe. And it isn't even my fault. Your life became complicated the day that you unbound your powers."

"I was so happy when that happened. It was like I finally had a purpose. I had this great mission in life, and I had two kickass sisters, and… I wish I could get that girl back."

"That girl couldn't raise two nephews. You can. I studied you long before I tried to kill you, remember? I didn't fall in love with the exuberant, devil-may-care, aimless girl. I fell in love with the passionate, loving, aimless woman."

"I am not aimless!" Phoebe protested.

"Not now you aren't, but baby when I first met you…"

"Hey, I was going back to college! That isn't aimless," Phoebe said as she mock slapped him on his stomach.

Cole's eyes dilated a fraction.

Phoebe felt her mouth go dry. It wasn't that she didn't know how attracted to her he was, but it had been a while since he had let her see that look. And quite frankly, she hadn't ever felt the wave of desire that accompanied it before. At least, she hadn't felt his desire, her own was a different matter.

"You pervert, there was nothing sexy about that slap," she heard herself say in a lightly chiding tone.

"Maybe not, but we are alone in your bedroom. The boys are asleep," Cole paused for a moment, "and I'm really horny."

Her eyes flickered to his pants almost involuntarily.

"Not that horny, well not yet anyway," Cole said when he saw her eyes flicker downwards.

"Wanna change that?" Phoebe asked in what she hoped was a mixed of innocence and seduction. She wasn't sure how it had come out. She had not had not used that tone of voice for a long time. She had not been the minx she played with Cole with her other boyfriends. At least, she had not done it intentionally. The teasing she had done in those relationships had come from her unwillingness to share the family secret.

Come to think of it, her teasing with Cole had always been…

"You know, it isn't really good for my libido when you start thinking deep thoughts when I'm trying to seduce you," Cole's voice interrupted her musings.

"What? Old age catching up with you?" Phoebe teased.

Cole rolled his eyes and flopped down on the bed next to her. "I'd like to see what your sex drive will be like when you're over a hundred."

Phoebe smiled and straddled him. "I'd rather see what my sex drive is like now," she said as she wiggled a bit to find a better position.

Cole's breath caught, and Phoebe's smile turned into a grin. "Like that Baby?"

Cole put his hands on her hips. "You haven't called me that in a long time."

In lieu of responding verbally, she leaned down and kissed him. His mouth opened hesitantly as his tongue poked out to see if he would be allowed to deepen the kiss. She responded willingly and soon their tongues were sliding against each other.

His hands slid up under her pajama top, and she broke their kiss to comply with his request for its removal.

Cole moaned softly as he reached up to gently touch her breasts. Phoebe rolled her hips in response which encouraged Cole to thrust his gently upwards. His brain was just about to shut down completely when he felt Phoebe had roll off of him and saw her tug her top back on.

He honestly didn't know whether to feel frustrated, rejected or angry, so he settled for confused.

Phoebe made a movement towards her bedroom door, but then turned around. Hope flared for a brief second before he found a pillow in his hands. He realized what it was for when she pulled her door open and Wyatt stood on the other side.

Cole discretely placed the pillow on his lap.

"You come stay with him?" Wyatt asked quietly.

Cole couldn't follow Wyatt's logic, but Phoebe apparently understood just fine.

"Sure I'll go check on Chris," Phoebe responded easily.

Cole frowned. They really needed to teach Wyatt better communication skills. Mentally he pushed that up higher on his to-do list. With a sigh he pushed himself up off the bed.

"Go check on Chris; I'll tuck Wyatt back in," he told Phoebe as he grabbed Wyatt's hand.

He smiled almost paternally at Wyatt, "Come on Kiddo, back to bed with you."

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A couple hours later, Cole was staring at Phoebe's bedroom ceiling.

"Phoebe?" He asked in a regular tone of voice.

"What?" She responded in a much groggier one.

"How did you know that Wyatt had come about Chris? For that matter, how did you even know that Wyatt was there?"

Phoebe moaned and repositioned her naked body in a more comfortable arrangement.

"Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm tired," she whined.

Cole felt his frown form.

"Phoebe…"

She sighed and pushed herself up into a seated position. Her hand shot out and turned on the bedside lamp. Cole sat up next to her.

"Because I felt Chris have the nightmare, and I felt Wyatt's concern…"

"You felt it?"

Phoebe shrugged.

"You felt it," realization dawned. Phoebe had not been empathic while they had been together. Granted, in his time in limbo he had heard about Phoebe and her empathic adventures, but the thought had not occurred to him that she would eventually regain those powers. And if she had her empathy back, that would mean that she could feel him and his emotions.

"I don't understand it. It, it isn't like it was before, and I don't have my levitation back, but it is there," Phoebe explained not noticing Cole's preoccupation.

"Did you really want this?" Cole heard himself voice a loud his worry. Part of him was shocked. He had not meant to say that out loud.

"Of course I wanted my powers back," Phoebe sounded affronted.

"No, I mean, did my emotions influence you?" Cole hated the way it came out. He hated that he had pushed her to tell him. Hated that he had the doubt in the first place.

Phoebe shook her head. "You have been 'influencing' me from the day I met you. But in my experience, things don't happen in a relationship without the influence of the other person. And to answer your question, yes, I wanted this. I've wanted it every time we've gotten back together. I think I even wanted to be with you when I told you I didn't. So quit worrying, I've got enough on my mind."

He nodded his head in acceptance and settled back down against the pillows. Instead of hearing the click of the lamp being switched off, he heard Phoebe take in a breath.

"Cole, do you think that maybe Wyatt felt Chris have the nightmare to?"

He wanted to enjoy the hopeful tone in her voice. He really did.

"Not in the way you're thinking. They're brothers Phoebe. Regular non-magical humans have been known to feel what their loved ones feeling without any other information. If anything, it was just their bond as brothers that let Wyatt know."

To his surprise, Phoebe smiled.

"Well, isn't love the strongest magic of all?" She asked softly.

Cole laughed. "Go to sleep."

Phoebe shrugged, turned off the light, and took his advice.


End file.
